USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 38
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date have kept pace with the phenomenal growth of the city of Rich- mond. All these banks are now so closely allied in their interests that they have become a strong chain of finance around the thriving manufacturing and agricultural district which lies to the north of San Francisco, touching on the shores of the bay. These institutions are destined to play a large part in the progress and upbuilding of the communities which they represent, and, with a central mind that looks to the general good of the communities as well as to the banks, California may look for rapid development in that part of the com- monwealth.
HON. MORTIMER SMITH.
Hon. Mortimer Smith, judge of the police court of Oakland, adds to his comprehensive knowledge of the law in the performance of his judicial duties a thorough familiarity with the forces and conditions which foster crime. He has made an extensive study of the many social evils that come under his notice and has in this way founded upon experience and knowledge a practically invaluable work of public service.
Pennsylvania numbers him among her native sons, his birth hav- ing occurred in Venango county, that state, June 9, 1872. His par- ents came west in 1876, taking up their residence in Oakland, where Judge Smith has remained continuously since that time. He acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of this city and after he had decided upon a legal career began the study of law in the office of his father, James Hume Smith, one of Oakland's foremost attor- neys. He showed a strong natural aptitude for the profession and passed a creditable examination, being admitted to the bar August 7. 1894.
As a general practitioner he handled a number of important cases with exceptional skill, and it was his high rating as a rising young lawyer which led to his being offered the nomination on the republican ticket for the office of judge of the police court, to which he was elected in 1898, at the age of twenty-six, and in which he has served by re-election since that time. He is probably the youngest man who was ever entrusted with the duties of this responsible posi- tion, and during the period of his service he has discharged these duties in an unusually intelligent and far-sighted manner, making a special study of criminal law and of the conditions which foster the
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evils which every day come to his notice. He fully appreciates the fact that our present social evils present a problem which has not yet been solved by the leading minds of the country, but in his adminis- tration of justice and in his bench decisions he has conscientiously sought to give every one a square deal and absolute justice according to the law.
Judge Smith is well known in fraternal circles, being past presi- dent of Oakland Aerie, No. 7, F. O. E .; past master of Oak Leaf Lodge, No. 35, A. O. U. W .; a member of Oakland Camp, No. 94, W. O. W .; Bay View Lodge, No. 401, A. F. & A. M .; Oakland Con- sistory, No. 2, Scottish Rite of Free Masonry ; Aahmes Temple of the Mystic Shrine; Oakland Pyramid, No. 2, A. E. O. S .; Oakland Lodge, No. 171, B. P. O. E., and No. 324, Loyal Order of Moose. He also holds membership in the Nile Club. He is a representative and valued citizen of Oakland and is without doubt one of the most popular and able men connected with the municipal government.
JOHN W. BANKHEAD.
John W. Bankhead is a successful business man of Oakland, being engaged in contracting. He was born in St. Louis, Sierra county, California, March 9, 1857, and is a son of Malcolm and Jane (Brown) Bankhead. The father was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1823 and educated there. Coming to America in his early manhood, he settled in Cape Breton, where he remained for a year, and then removed to Boston, Massachusetts, where he completed his appren- ticeship at the blacksmith's trade, continuing in that city for two years. At the end of that time he went to Maryland, working as a blacksmith for one year, and then went to West Virginia, in which state he resided until 1850. In that year he took up his residence in Missouri, where he followed the blacksmith's trade for one year, and then came to California, settling in Sierra county. There he mined until 1857, and from that year until 1863 followed the same occupa- tion in Janesville, California, coming at the end of that time to Oak- land and working as a machinist until 1865. He then turned his attention to the furniture business, and also acted as an auctioneer, being the first to take up that line of work in Oakland. He partici- pated in the commercial and business life of his city until his death, in 1875. Politically he was a republican and fraternally a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while he also belonged to the
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St. Andrew and Caledonian Clubs. His marriage to Miss Jane Brown took place in Maryland, and to them were born ten children.
John W. Bankhead attended the public and high schools until fifteen years of age and then went to Virginia City, where he mined for two years. At the end of that time he went to Oakland with his father and for two years worked in association with him in business. Subsequent to that time he engaged in house moving and contracting, but in 1889 turned his attention to well boring, although he continued as a contractor. He is now engaged in well boring exclusively and is very successful, deriving a gratifying income from his occupation. For a quarter of a century he has now been engaged in this business and has put in the majority of the deep wells, soundings and elevator holes, of all of which he keeps correct data, to show the different strata passed through.
He bored the well of the Oakland Gas, Light & Heat Company, which is a sixteen inch well and produces between four hundred and fifty and seven hundred gallons per minute. He bored a twelve-inch well for the California Door Company-one of the best wells in Oak- land-producing four thousand and eighty gallons an hour. He also put in several wells for the Pacific States Refineries, each between two hundred and three hundred feet deep and producing from three hundred to seven hundred gallons a minute. He bored a sixteen-inch well for the Young Men's Christian Association, which is two hun- dred and seventy-four feet deep ; also a sixteen-inch well at the Prov- idence Hospital, which supplies the hospital plentifully with pure, fresh, cold water. At the new home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, on East Fourteenth street, he bored a large well to a depth of three hundred feet, producing between three and four thousand gallons an hour. He put in a well for Jake Pantosky at the free market that is two hundred and ninety feet deep, and in this he passed through the most remarkable strata of gravel that he has encountered in any of the Oakland wells. This well supplies the free market as well as the surrounding property. Mr. Bankhead has also put down most of the large wells for the various laundries in Oakland. The Excel- sior has a sixteen-inch well, which gives it ten thousand gallons an hour and is almost four hundred feet deep; the Crystal Laundry has a well two hundred and thirty feet in depth, producing between seven and ten thousand gallons an hour, and the Yosemite Laundry has a sixteen-inch well almost two hundred feet deep. The largest hand- bored well in the city of Oakland is at Tenth and Webster streets, which Mr. Bankhead put down for Mr. Tutt. It is only twenty- four inches in diameter and eighty-four feet in depth and supplies
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about twenty-four flats. He also put down two large wells in the new Kahn store and one large, deep well in the handsome new build- ing of the First Trust & Savings Bank at Sixteenth and San Pablo streets. Another remarkable well put down by Mr. Bankhead is that of the Yosemite Bottling Company at First and Myrtle streets and a centrifugal pump is used, which is quite unusual.
For most of the large buildings, subways, etc., he has put in sound- ings and elevator holes, having just finished the elevator hole for the Campanile at the University of California. He also put in the sound- ings for the main steel bridge of the Northwestern Pacific and all of the elevator holes for the Von Emon Elevator Company that have been sunk in Oakland. He is trustworthy and always to be relied upon to fulfill any contract to the letter and, therefore, enjoys a high reputation which has secured him many important deals.
On October 19, 1878, Mr. Bankhead married Miss Carrie Ann Moskiman, the ceremony taking place in Oakland. To them were born five children: Mrs. F. W. Wetmore, of Oakland; Mathew B., who is an iron molder and a member of the Masonic lodge; Robert O., who is also an iron molder and a member of the Masonic lodge and the Native Sons; Minnie, a graduate of the high school; and Harold, who is attending the public schools.
Politically Mr. Bankhead is a republican, but he has never been active along party lines. He is interested in the growth of the city and ever ready to bear his share in promoting advancement and de- velopment. He was the first grand treasurer of the Native Sons of California, holds a life membership in the Caledonian Club, which he won by excelling in athletics, and also belongs to the Rotary Club. He has many friends in these organizations and among the business men of the city and is trusted by all because of his high principles.
WALTER J. MATHEWS.
Walter J. Mathews is one of the foremost architects of Oakland, having drawn plans for some of the handsomest structures of that city. His reputation is of the highest and evidences of his skill and taste can be found on every hand. He was born in Markesan, Wis- consin, in May, 1850, and is a son of Julius C. and Pauline H. (Mc- Cracken) Mathews. The father was born in New York and edu- cated in South Bend, Indiana, where he remained until 1847. He then went to Markesan, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the mer-
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cantile business, and in 1852 removed to San Francisco, where he continued along the same line until 1854, when he sold out and re- turned to Markesan, there continuing in merchandising until 1862. His family removed from Markesan to Oakland in 1866 and the father subsequently gave his attention to architectural work, becom- ing quite prominent in that profession. He retired from active labor in 1896 and died in Oakland in May, 1911. His marriage to Miss Pauline McCracken was celebrated in Markesan, Wisconsin, and to them were born nine children, of whom four are living as follows: Walter J., of this review; Frank Arthur, an artist of San Francisco; Edgar, an architect of San Francisco; and Caroline, of Oakland.
Walter J. Mathews attended the public schools at Markesan until 1866, when he removed to Oakland, where he pursued his public- school studies until 1868. Deciding upon the profession of architect, he went to Los Angeles and allied himself with Mr. Kysor, the firm name being Kysor & Mathews. He remained in that city until 1877 and then returned to Oakland, becoming a partner of his father, which association was maintained until 1886, when he established business independently. He has been most successful in his profes- sion and has achieved a reputation which places him high among his associates.
He combines intuitively artistic taste with utility and has drawn plans for a number of buildings which combined both of these quali- ties admirably. He has made the drawings for the Union Bank of Savings, the Central National Bank, the Bacon building, the Blake and Moffitt building, the Crellin Hotel and the M. K. Blake estate block, and was consulting architect for the Oakland Hotel. He was the architect for the Immigration Station at Angel Island, the San Luis Obispo and the Mono Hotels at San Luis Obispo, the Redondo Beach Hotel at Redondo, California, the Old Cathedral on Main Street, Los Angeles, the Methodist Church, Los Angeles, and the Orpheum Theatre, Elks Club, Athenian Club, the Key Route pier and the Unitarian and St. John's churches of Oakland. He is now general superintendent of the Oakland Auditorium under construc- tion. The residences of which he has had the building are of no less importance, including the beautiful Soule home, the William Pierce Johnson home at Monte Vista, the Goodell and Bailey resi- dences on Jackson street, the A. A. Moore house and the F. M. Smith mansion. His labors have not been confined to this side of the bay, however, for credit is due him for fully forty of the most palatial ยท homes of San Francisco. It is estimated that if all the structures of which Mr. Mathews has made plans or with the building of which
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he has been associated were placed in a row they would extend four miles.
On the 24th of December, 1879, Mr. Mathews was married in Oakland to Miss Viola Gates Strawbridge, and they have two chil- dren: Pauline, who attended Mills College and is now the wife of Earl B. Henley, a graduate of Purdue College, Indiana; and Joseph- ine Hope, who was graduated from the University of California and is now the wife of Elliott Johnsone, of East Oakland, also a graduate of the University of California.
Mr. Mathews is a democrat, loyally supporting the party, but has never aspired to political office. He is the oldest practicing architect in the San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and fraternally belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He holds membership in the Oakland Chamber of Commerce and the Oakland Commercial Club, allying himself in these connections with men who have done much toward attracting new commercial and manufacturing enterprises to the city and promoting its trade interests and its commercial importance. Along more social lines he is a member of the Claremont Country Club, the Athenian Club and the Home Club. He has always taken a deep interest in charitable institutions and was formerly vice president of the California insti- tute for the deaf, dumb and blind. He is ever ready to extend a help- ing hand to those in need and largely gives his support to movements which are undertaken in order to better humanity. His recreation is fishing and he is a lover of the out-of-doors, seeking in the com- munion with nature that recuperation which renews his vital energy and again prepares him for taking up his arduous duties.
BENJAMIN PEARSON.
To Benjamin Pearson belongs the title of self-made man, for, starting out in life without experience or resources, he has through his own energy and initiative risen to be one of the leading business men of Berkeley, where since 1903 he has been well known as a con- tractor and builder. He was born in Sweden, March 24, 1866, and reared upon a farm in his native country. In 1884 he came to the United States, settling in De Kalb county, Illinois, where for two years he worked at agricultural pursuits in the employ of others. At the end of that time he removed to Chicago and was connected with a railroad company there until 1888, when he came to California.
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Mr. Pearson settled in Oakland, where he secured a position as driver of a milk wagon. Later he learned the carpenter's trade, working as journeyman for the California Sash & Door Company of Oakland. On resigning this position he came to Berkeley and worked at his trade until 1903, when he formed a partnership with Nels Ole- son in the contracting business. This association was dissolved after two years and since that time Mr. Pearson has engaged in business for himself, his large and growing clientage being the best proof of his success. He has erected a great many business buildings and pri- vate residences, his work in Berkeley including the Rex Theater, the two Morgan blocks, the Fitzpatrick and Ramsey residences and the beautiful homes belonging to Mr. Stillman and Mr. Bonicott in Piedmont avenue. He also erected the residence belonging to Mrs. Morgan on College avenue, those of Miss Sheperd and Mrs. Kerr on Hillside avenue, George Friend's home, and flats for Captain Siebe at Shellmond Park. In Oakland Mr. Pearson built the warehouse for the Paraffine Paint Company, flats for Mrs. Walsh and a modern residence for Stuart Hawley. He has done a great deal of important construction work in Piedmont also, having there erected residences for Frank Kelly and John F. Conners. In addition to this he has erected in Berkeley a factory for the American Photo Players Com- pany and residences for S. J. Sill, Bruce Cornwall, Mrs. P. B. Corn- wall, John G. Howard and Charles Fischel.
In 1891 Mr. Pearson married Miss Annie S. Peterson and they have become the parents of two children, Agnes S. and Elmer B. Mr. Pearson is a member of the Swedish Benevolent Society and be- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellow's and the Woodmen of the World. He deserves great credit for what he has accom- plished in a business way, for he started out in life empty-handed and through his own energy and perseverance has worked his way up- ward to success.
JAMES BESTOR MERRITT.
James Bestor Merritt, one of the most highly esteemed and de- servedly respected citizens of Oakland, is living retired in his beau- tiful home at 1400 Jackson street, after many years of prominent and successful identification with important industrial interests here as one of the early developers and upbuilders of the large manufactur- ing business controlled by the Coast Supply & Manufacturing Com-
MR. AND MRS. JAMES B. MERRITT
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
pany. The business was established in Connecticut in 1836, and the Ensign-Bickford Company, as it was later known, was started in Alameda county in 1868 by the same men who were behind the Connecticut concern, but the California company was a separate or- ganization. The plant was built in Oakland by L. S. Ellsworth, a brother-in-law of the subject of this review, and it manufactured blasting fuse.
Mr. Merritt is a native of Alabama, born in Spring Hill, Marengo county, on the 31st of December, 1839, his parents being James B. and Sarah Goodwin (Humphrey) Merritt, both of whom were school teachers. They were natives of Connecticut, descended from old families of that state, and there were three of the ancestors who took part in the Revolutionary conflict. The parents of our subject went to Alabama after their marriage. The father passed away a few days before the birth of his son, his funeral occurring on the 30th of December, 1839. The mother returned to Connecticut and made her home there until her death, with the exception of a visit which she made to Alabama, making the journey by wagon.
James B. Merritt acquired his early education in the public schools of New England and afterward entered Wilbraham Acad- emy, studying there in 1853 and 1854 and preparing himself for Amherst College, where he afterward became a student. When he was but eighteen years of age he went as a pioneer to Illinois, which was then the western frontier, joining an uncle who resided near Quincy, and engaged in teaching in Adams county. He divided his time between that occupation and general farming and had many of the usual experiences of the pioneer. In 1864 he returned to the east and in Simsbury, Connecticut, operated a grist and sawmill for one year, developing during that time a fine business. Disposing of this, he returned to Illinois and, purchasing a quarter section of land eighteen miles from Quincy, he set to work to clear it of the timber which was still standing and this done engaged in farming until 1871.
In that year Mr. Merritt rented his farm in Illinois and pushed westward to California, arriving on the 26th of October in what is now Oakland, where he took up his abode in the house in which he resided for thirty years thereafter. Soon after coming hore he entered the plant for the manufacture of fuse for blasting purposes and this with many alterations and improvements is in operation at the present writing although it is now at Livermore, where it was moved recently. Mr. Merritt held this connection for thirty years, until his retirement in 1901, and although the concern underwent many changes during that period he remained always the leading Vol. II 25
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figure in its operation. For a number of years the factory was oper- ated by Toy, Bickford & Company and upon the death of Mr. Toy, in 1887, the name was changed to Ensign-Bickford & Company. Mr. Merritt remained active manager of the concern which his initia- tive spirit had built up until the year his son, Albert H. Merritt, succeeded to the position, incorporating the business under the name of the Coast Manufacturing & Supply Company. This is an off- shoot of the Bickford, Smith & Davy Company, established in Eng- land, where a factory is still maintained. The first American branch was organized in Connecticut and later the California company came into existence. For twenty years Mr. Merritt sold the output of four plants in the United States but in 1899 the agreement providing for this terminated. He has considerable mechanical genius and invented many machines used in fuse making, including a machine for the measurement of the size of the fuse. After his retirement he spent two years in travel in Europe, Africa and Asia and soon after returning designed and built the home at 1400 Jackson street, where he now resides.
On the 26th of May, 1863, in Illinois, Mr. Merritt was united in marriage to Miss Catharine E. Cormeny, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of George W. Cormeny. Their fiftieth wedding anniversary was celebrated on the 26th of May, 1913, by a reception and entertainment at the Home Club of Oakland. Three hundred guests congratulated the happy couple on this occasion, Mr. and Mrs. Merritt being assisted in receiving by their five children, as follows: Sarah T., the wife of Edward C. Robinson, a prominent attorney of Oakland; Albert H., manager of the Coast Manufactur- ing & Supply Company; Mary Williston, the wife of Charles H. Cowell, who is connected with the gas company of Oakland ; Gertrude E., who married Claude M. Gardiner, in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; and Augusta A., the wife of Thomas W. Norris, treasurer of the Coast Manufacturing & Supply Company.
Mr. Merritt is especially prominent and active in the affairs of the Masonic fraternity, which he joined January 22, 1866, in Tariff- ville, Connecticut, becoming at that time a member of St. Mark's Lodge, No. 36, A. F. & A. M. He is now connected with the lodge, chapter and commandery at Oakland and has been through all the chairs of the subordinate lodge and many of the chairs of the three grand lodges. He is grand master of the grand council and past grand patron of the Eastern Star. He belongs also to the Scottish Rite and the thirty-third degree in Masonry was conferred upon him
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January 16, 1887. The new Masonic Scottish Rite cathedral, which was built in 1908, was designed by Mr. Merritt, who had the super- vision of its erection. It is a magnificent building with large and beautiful rooms and its systems of ventilation and water supply are of the best. The water comes from a well sunk three hundred and thirty-five feet in the earth. A fine bust of Mr. Merritt, the work of Gertrude Kanno, occupies a prominent place in the temple. Mrs. Merritt is prominent in the Order of the Eastern Star and has served as associate matron. In 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Merritt traveled through Cuba, Newfoundland and many other places and visited at that time seven grand chapters besides various other Masonic bodies.
He has always been active in politics and, representing the repub- lican party, has held many important positions of trust and responsi- bility. While a resident of Illinois he served as school trustee, as a member of the district school board and as justice of the peace, and this latter office he held in Oakland from 1873 to 1879. For twenty- seven years, from 1873 to 1900, he served as a member of the election board, his son succeeding him for several years on his retirement. As one of the early settlers in Oakland Mr. Merritt has many inter- esting recollections of the early days and can remember when he knew personally and could call by name every one of the three hun- dred and forty-three voters who in 1876 resided in the section be- tween the city limits and San Leandro bridge. During the long period which has elapsed since that time he has never been found remiss in the duties of citizenship or unfaithful to any tie or obliga- tion of life and he can still be depended upon to further any move- ment brought forward for the advancement of the general welfare.
WILLIAM PINKNEY TOLER.
The history of California would be incomplete and unsatisfactory were there failure to make prominent reference to William Pinkney Toler, who was connected with one of the notable events that figure in the annals of the state when Old Glory was first flung to the breezes at Monterey. He was a native of Caracas, Venezuela, born on the 23d of December, 1826, at which time his father, Hopeful Toler, was serving as American consul in Lajara. He was a native of Virginia and fought in the war with England in 1812. The an- cestors came originally from England. When a young man Hopeful Toler went on business to Venezuela, where he was married to a
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