USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 26
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In his political views Mr. Emigh was a stalwart republican, always active in support of the principles of the party yet never seek- ing office as a reward for party fealty. He was equally prominent in Masonry, holding membership in the craft for many years. He was a past master of Rio Vista lodge and held membership in the Knights Templar Commandery at Oakland. In all of his business affairs he displayed sound judgment and unfaltering enterprise, and his finan- cial interests were varied and extensive. His opinions were highly valued by other business men, and he commanded the high regard and confidence of all with whom he came in contact.
Thomas P. Emigh, whose name introduces this review, spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and in the acquirement of an education attended the graded and high schools of Oakland until the time of his graduation in 1899. Subsequently he spent three years as office man in the service of the British American Insurance Com- pany in San Francisco and then became country man in the San Fran- cisco office of the American Central Insurance Company of St. Louis, Missouri, holding the latter position until January, 1907. At that time he came to Oakland and embarked in the local insurance business on his own account, representing the Continental Fire Insurance Company and the Globe Indemnity Company, both of New York. He has since won a gratifying measure of success in this connection, writing a large amount of insurance annually.
In June, 1902, in Oakland, Mr. Emigh was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Holmes, by whom he has one child, Weldon, who is nine years of age and a public-spirited student. He is a republican in politics and a Protestant in religious faith, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons, of which order he is a worthy exempler. He is likewise a charter member of the Oakland Commercial Club. Public-spirited and progressive, he takes part in all movements undertaken in the interests of the city and is ever ready to participate in the promotion of worthy public enterprises.
REMY J. PAVERT.
Remy J. Pavert, who has been a successful and prominent repre- sentative of building interests in Oakland since 1905, acts as vice president of the Surety Mortgage & Building Company. His birth occurred in Amsterdam, Holland, in April, 1868, his parents being William Van de Pavert and Johanna Peelen. He acquired his early
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education in the public schools and subsequently attended Liege Uni- versity until graduated from that institution in 1886.
In that year he emigrated to the United States, settling first in San Antonio, Florida, where he purchased an orange grove which he operated for nine months. On the expiration of that period he sold out and removed to San Francisco, California, being there em- ployed as a carpenter for one year by the firm of Keenan & Cranston, building contractors, while subsequently he acted as foreman in their service until 1893. He then embarked in business as a building con- tractor on his own account, remaining in San Francisco until 1901, when he disposed of his interests there and went to Baker City, Ore- gon. At that place he carried on the contracting business for four years, erecting fifty-two cottages which he sold on the easy payment plan. In 1905 he became a building contractor of Oakland, first erecting small cottages and gradually branching out into larger con- struction. He has erected many important structures of the city and has made a number of profitable investments. Purchasing the prop- erty at the corner of Eleventh and Madison streets, he built three apartment houses thereon and sold them when completed. After- ward he bought the land at the corner of Eleventh and Brush streets, on which he also erected three apartment houses which were sold when completed, and likewise built and sold two apartment houses at the corner of Eleventh and Fallon streets. Next he purchased a piece of land seventy-five by one hundred feet on Twelfth street, be- tween Madison and Oak streets, and erected thereon a business block, which he sold. Subsequently he bought the southwest corner of Twelfth and Jackson streets, erecting thereon four garages which he sold when completed, and afterward purchased the property at the northwest corner of Thirteenth and Harrison streets for forty thou- sand dollars, selling it three weeks later for sixty-five thous- sand dollars. He next came into possession of a piece of property embracing one hundred by one hundred feet at the corner of Fif- teenth and Jefferson streets, for which he paid seventy thousand dol- lars. On fifty by fifty feet thereof he erected a handsome hostelry which is called the Savoy Hotel and in which he owns a half interest. The property is now valued at three hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Mr. Pavert also purchased fifty by seventy-five feet at the southwest corner of Sixteenth and Jefferson streets for twenty-five thousand dollars, and the property is today worth sixty-five thou- sand dollars. Some time ago he bought a piece of land, twenty-six by eighty feet, facing three streets, at Seventeenth and Broadway, 1 for forty-five thousand dollars and sold it a year later for eighty
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thousand dollars. He has recently completed a one-story building on Fifteenth street, near Broadway, covering fifty by one hundred feet. He is widely recognized as a shrewd and able business man and one whose prosperity is the merited reward of his wisely directed undertakings.
In 1893, in San Francisco, Mr. Pavert was united in marriage to Miss Clara Peterson, by whom he has one son, Frank R., who is nineteen years of age and a student in the College of Agriculture of the University of California. Mr. Pavert is a democrat in politics and is identified fraternally with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has gained many friends in both business and social circles of Oakland, and his life record is creditable alike to the land of his birth and that of his adoption.
THOMAS COOK STODDARD.
Thomas Cook Stoddard, a representative and respected citizen of Alameda, now holds the responsible position of postmaster of that city, to which he was appointed July 18, 1913. His birth occurred in Farmington, Iowa, on the 4th of February, 1855. His father, Asa Church Stoddard, who was born in Ohio on the 13th of August, 1826, came to California in 1873 and was engaged in the milling business for a great many years. His demise occurred on the 23d of June, 1909. His wife was Mrs. Sarah Hawkins, a native of Indiana, whose father, Mr. Cook, was one of the few slave owners of North Carolina who liberated his bondsmen. Mr. Cook removed to Indiana and later to Iowa and spent the remainder of his life in that state. Thomas C. Stoddard of this review is descended from Jonathan Stoddard, who came to the United States in 1639. General Amos Stoddard, a descendant of this family, was the first governor of Louisiana territory, being appointed by the president of the nation.
Thomas C. Stoddard attended the public schools of his native city until 1870 and subsequently held various positions for some time. In 1873 he came to California and secured a position as telegraph oper- ator with the Western Union Telegraph Company in San Jose, while subsequently he spent a short time at Tombstone, Arizona. Return- ing to this state, he took up his abode in Alameda and for seven years was connected with the Narrow Gauge Railroad as telegraph oper- ator. On the expiration of that period he went to work for his father, who conducted a planing mill as a member of the firm of Stoddard
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& Barber. In 1893 Thomas Stoddard was appointed postmaster of Alameda, serving in that capacity for four and a half years and sub- sequently spending about a year in the insurance business. In 1899 he became deputy county assessor under H. P. Dalton and served in that capacity until he resigned to accept appointment to his present position. His work in the office of deputy county assessor extended over a period of fourteen years of most creditable service. He be- longs to several prominent fraternal orders in Alameda and has won an extensive and favorable acquaintance during the many years of his residence in this county.
JOHN MITCHELL.
Among the prominent and highly esteemed citizens of Alameda county is John Mitchell, chairman of the state board of equalization and a resident of Oakland. He was born of Scotch parentage in Saint Andrews, Montreal, Canada, January 1, 1862. He is a son of the Rev. Andrew and Elizabeth ( Patton) Mitchell. His father was a Baptist minister who had been graduated from Andover (Mass.) Theological Seminary. For a time he was in Canada and then re- turned to the United States, serving his denomination until 1878, when he came to Oakland and retired to private life. It was there he died at the age of eighty-two years.
Following the removal of the family across the border into the United States, Mr. Mitchell attended the public schools in Chester, New Hampshire, afterward becoming a student in the Chester Acad- emy, in which he continued until fifteen years of age. After leaving school he took up the study of shoe designing and was in the leather business for twelve years. He then came to Oakland and entered the shoe store supply business with S. H. Steward, under the firm name of Mitchell and Steward. This relation was maintained until 1899, when Mr. Mitchell retired from the business. In 1896 Mr. Mitchell was elected supervisor of the fifth district and served as such for twelve years, being for eight years chairman of the board of supervisors. Continuously he has held office for eighteen years and the record which he has made is most commendable. In 1910 he was elected to the state board of equalization and following the resignation of Hon. A. B. Nye, he was elected chairman and still occupies the position. The important duties of the position are faith-
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fully and capably discharged and fairness, justice and progress have characterized him in all of his official capacities.
In 1903 he joined Jas. T. Gardner in the wholesale and retail grocery business under the name of the Gardner-Mitchell Company. They first established a place of business on Broadway and later on Telegraph avenue.
In December, 1882, Mr. Mitchell was married in Berkeley, Cali- fornia, to Miss Minnie A. Gibbons, the daughter of Henry and Me- lissa (Merryfield) Gibbons, and unto them have been born five chil- dren, three sons and two daughters: Elsie; Edna, deceased; John G .; Raymond A .; and Trueman H.
He was one of the organizers of the Oakland Chamber of Com- merce, and served as one of the directors.
Mr. Mitchell is a Mason, holding membership in the Live Oak Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is like- wise a member of the Athenian Club and the Nile Club and has served as one of the directors. In social connections he has gained many friends, while in his business and official life he has won the high regard, confidence and good-will of his colleagues and asso- ciates.
NEAL J. MCKEON.
Neal J. McKeon, a well known and successful citizen of Oak- land, has been engaged in the real-estate business for the past six years and prior to that time served as secretary and manager of the Oak- land Title & Abstract Company, a concern which he organized. He was born in San Francisco in August, 1872, and acquired his more advanced education in Christian Brothers College of Sacramento. After leaving that institution he came to Oakland and in the capacity of office boy entered the employ of the abstract and title firm known as the Gustave L. Mix Company. Promotion came to him as he demonstrated his ability in the discharge of the duties intrusted to him, so that he filled positions of greater and greater importance and eventually acquired control of the business.
In March, 1906, he organized the Oakland Title & Abstract Company, which was formed by the consolidation of a number of similar companies that had been in operation for from twenty to fifty years in this locality. The concern was capitalized for one hun-
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dred thousand dollars, and the following officers were installed : Charles E. Palmer, president; James P. Edoff, vice president; Neal J. Mckeon, secretary and manager ; and Arthur H. Breed, treasurer. In a local publication the company was mentioned as follows: "They are equipped for the most complete work in their line, having a com- plete set of books of all records of Alameda county in their office, and have proven themselves thoroughly in touch with all modern methods, system and despatch in conducting their work. The com- pany is regarded not only as the oldest and the most thoroughly re- liable in Alameda county, in all its dealings, but enjoys public ap- proval also for promptness and despatch with which orders are exe- cuted." On the 19th of March, 1908, Mr. Mckeon disposed of his interest in that concern and embarked in the real-estate business, in which he has remained continuously to the present time with excel- lent success. Oakland has long numbered him among its most enter- prising, prosperous and esteemed citizens.
W. T. BAKER.
W. T. Baker is president of the W. T. Baker Company, a large concern engaged in the general painting and wallpapering business. Their patronage comes not alone from Oakland, but from all over the coast and the excellence of their work insures continued success. Mr. Baker is a native of Liverpool, England, born October 2, 1865. He attended the public schools of his native country until he reached the age of fourteen years and then went to sea. As a sailor he made the trip around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he arrived in 1880. In that year he was apprenticed to the painter's trade in Berkeley under William Lingard, with whom he remained until 1888, after which he came to Oakland. In this city he worked at his trade with various firms until 1890, when he engaged with W. W. Tucker & Company as a painter. He worked his way upward un- til he became vice president of the company in 1908, and in 1912 he sold his interest in that firm and formed what is now the W. T. Baker Company, of which he is the president. In March, 1913, they took over the business of W. W. Tucker & Company and are now controlling an extensive trade.
Mr. Baker was married in Oakland to Miss Annie Young, of Virginia City, Nevada, on the 12th of November, 1891, and they have a pleasant home in Oakland, where warm friendship is accorded
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them by many who knew them. Mr. Baker has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the United States, for in this country he found the opportunities which he sought and which, by the way, are always open to ambitious, energetic young men. He worked diligently to acquaint himself with the business in which he is now successfully engaged, and as the years have gone by he has worked his way steadily upward in this connection until he is now at the head of one of the foremost enterprises of the kind on the coast.
JOSEPH E. CAINE.
There are few men better qualified to speak authoritatively upon commercial conditions and the methods of municipal commercial de- velopment than Joseph E. Caine, who for the past year has filled the important position of secretary and manager of the Oakland Commercial Club. He thoroughly studies the questions that have to do with business progress and exploitation, knows the best methods of holding out inducements and realizes the fact that at all times promises must be substantiated.
His life record had its beginning in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 16th of April, 1867. His father, John T. Caine, a pioneer resident of Utah, was for many years one of the most eminent and widely known public men of that state, which he represented in congress for eleven years, from 1882 until 1893. For several terms he was a mem- ber of the Utah senate and for a number of years was city recorder of Salt Lake City. It was he who drafted the statehood bill upon Utah's admission to the Union.
Liberal educational opportunities were accorded Joseph E. Caine, who attended the University of Utah, the Maryland College near Washington, D. C., and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Upon his return to Utah, he entered into active con- nection with newspaper work, securing a position on the Salt Lake Tribune, and during the period of his residence there he served for two terms as a member of the board of public works of Salt Lake City. When hostilities between Spain and the United States were inaugurated in 1898 he was commissioned as captain of cavalry and given command of the First Troop United States Volunteer Cavalry, an independent troop of one hundred mounted men. When the war was over he was appointed superintendent of the Yosemite National
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Park and marched from the presidio of San Francisco to the park with his troop and a large pack train. He remained in the park for four months.
In 1899 Mr. Caine returned to Utah and became cashier of the Utah Commercial & Savings Bank, which position he retained until 1906. He then went to Nevada, where he had purchased some min- ing interests, located in the well known Mason district, in which he spent three years. In 1909 he returned to Salt Lake City and was elected a member of the board of governors in the Salt Lake Com- mercial Club. Following the death of the former secretary, Fisher Harris, he succeeded him in that position and his efforts were an influential element in the upbuilding of one of the strongest com- mercial organizations of the west. He also organized the Commer- cial Club Publicity Bureau, a subsidiary of the Commercial Club and the Utah Development League, an alliance of all the commercial clubs in the state of Utah.
During his absence from Utah Mr. Caine had retained his resi- dence in that state and through the influence of his friends, in 1908 he consented to become a candidate for state treasurer. He has no particular political ambition, however, and there are things about political management not entirely to his taste. In fact, he prefers to remain in the commercial club work, which he finds exceedingly agreeable and for which he is undoubtedly well adapted, as has been proven in the results which have attended his efforts. While living in Salt Lake City he was a member of the University Club of that city.
On the Ist of June, 1913, Mr. Caine came to Oakland to enter upon the duties of secretary and manager of the newly created Oak- land Commercial Club, the interests and policy of which he has shaped and guided in its formative period. The club was organized for the purpose of binding together the interests of Oakland's citi- zens, to promote its commercial and industrial development and to cultivate a more intense civic spirit and greater fraternalism among its business and professional men. In the Commercial Encyclopedia of the Pacific Southwest was the following: "Mr. Caine came to our city thoroughly qualified by temperament and training to under- take this work. His recent association with the Commercial Club of Salt Lake City in the capacity of secretary and manager, in which he built up that body from a membership of a few hundred to over two thousand, one of the strongest commercial bodies in the west, has given him recognition as one of the ablest authorities on develop- ment and upbuilding of western cities.
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"He has traveled extensively to various cities throughout the west, studied the conditions and methods of publicity and encouraging in- dustries, and has often been called upon to speak before commercial bodies of the coast and mountain cities on the subject of civic develop- ment. His ready and thorough understanding of the many problems involved in development of cities and his natural aptitude for meet- ing and mingling with men have made him eminently qualified for the task to which he has been called, and has justified the judgment of the committee in their selection."
Mr. Caine was married in 1889 to Miss Anna C. Hooper, of Salt Lake City, a daughter of Captain William H. Hooper, who removed to Utah during his association with Ben Holliday of Overland Stage fame. Captain Hooper was a prominent banker and railroad builder, and was one of the organizers and builders of the old Utah Central Railroad, which later became a part of the Oregon Short Line and the Los Angeles, San Pedro & Salt Lake Railroad systems. For a number of terms he represented Utah in the national halls of legislation and during his service as delegate to congress appointed to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Cadet Robley D. Evans, who afterward became the famous admiral, familiarly known as "Fight- ing Bob." Mr. and Mrs. Caine have four sons, three of whom are students in the public schools of Oakland. Although the period of residence of the family in this city has been brief, they have already made warm friends here, and the circle is growing day by day. Mr. Caine shows himself possessed of attractive social as well as business qualities and Oakland feels that she has made no mistake in placing him in his present responsible position, for his knowledge and energy well qualify him for the duties which devolve upon him.
PATRICK A. KEARNEY.
Since 1893 Patrick A. Kearney has been connected with the United States mint at San Francisco, and he has worked his way up- ward through successive stages of progress and advancement to be superintendent of the coining department, a position which he is now filling with credit and ability. He is a native of Minnesota, born in Heidelberg, February 22, 1871, and his father died when he was still very young, but the mother lived until 1911, when she passed away in Alameda. At the age of three the subject of this review was brought to California, and he acquired his education in the
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public schools of Alameda, completing the usual course and after- ward learning the machinist's trade at the National Iron Works in San Francisco. In 1893 he entered the United States mint as engin- eer and proved able and conscientious in the discharge of his duties, winning quick recognition and rapid advancement through various positions of trust and responsibility to that of superintendent of the coining department, an office which he now holds. He is recognized as one of the able employes of the treasury department and to the discharge of the duties which devolve upon him he brings a keen business ability and discrimination and a power of handling and con- trolling men. Throughout the course of his active career he has steadily utilized all the opportunities which have come his way, and his success is the natural reward of earnest, well directed and per- sistent labor.
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In San Francisco, in 1894, Mr. Kearney was united in marriage to Miss Margaret May Reid, of that city, and they have four chil- dren: Miriam, Roderick, Norma and Elinor. Fraternally Mr. Kearney is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and is connected with the Unitarian Club of Alameda. In the city where he has made his home since he was three years of age he is well and favorably known, for his many sterling qualities of mind and character com- mand respect and esteem wherever they are known.
JOHN M. VAN EVERY.
John M. Van Every, now engaged in the real-estate business in Oakland, was for twenty-one years closely identified with the minis- try of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which connection he has done important work for mankind. He was born in Smithville, Lin- coln county, Ontario, Canada, January 21, 1850, a son of John C. and Louisa Van Every. At the usual age he became a public-school stu- dent and afterward attended the high school until within a few weeks of sixteen years of age, when he began teaching a school of eighty pupils and thus continued for two years. He had this school engaged for a third year, but resigned for a better as teacher near his native town. He engaged in this profession until he reached the age of twenty years, when he entered the Missouri conference of the Meth- odist Episcopal church in 1870, having determined to devote his life to the work of preaching the gospel. Having spent two and a half years in this conference, he was then transferred to the Detroit con-
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ference of Michigan, where he remained for fourteen years, seven ot which were spent on the Upper Peninsula in the Lake Superior district.
In 1872 he was sent to L'Anse, Michigan, which was a new town without a Protestant church. Here Mr. Van Every organized a society of five members and very soon erected a fine church, aiding the enterprise by rolling the barrels of lime, piling the lumber and soliciting and collecting money. He went to this place when twenty- two years of age, and while there he was not only busily engaged in building the church but was still pursuing his theological studies in addition to preaching twice each Sunday and also at some outlying points. One such point was a Welsh slate quarry, where he preached once in two weeks in the middle of the week and to which he walked. This quarry was fourteen miles from L'Anse, through a dense forest. On two of his trips he lost his way, once sleeping out all night and on the other occasion being unable to find the right direction from early morning to night. When in charge of the church at L'Anse, he also had the superintendency of the Chippewa Indian missions for two hundred miles on the south shore of Lake Superior. At Han- cock, in the Upper Peninsula, he made extensive church improve- ments and conducted a gracious revival. He also spent a pastorate at Ishpeming in the Lake Superior region, where he conducted a very fruitful revival, adding about one hundred and fifty persons to the membership. At Clayton and Dundee in Lower Michigan, he not only conducted successful revivals, but at the latter place the church experienced a phenomenal growth and increased interest in the Sunday school work. When at Northville, near Detroit, the church was wonderfully quickened under his ministry; and there. he succeeded in erecting a beautiful house of worship.
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