USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 4
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It was in early manhood that Mr. Stratton decided upon the prac- tice of law as a life work and, entering upon preparation for the pro- fession, he soon acquired a knowledge that enabled him to pass an examination that admitted him to the bar. He entered upon active practice in partnership with W. W. Morrow, later judge of the
HON. FREDERICK S. STRATTON
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
United States circuit court of appeals in San Francisco. Some time afterward Mr. Stratton became senior partner in the firm of Strat- ton, Kauffman & Torchiana. Since that time his progress has been continuous, and he has long since reached an enviable position as a leader of the California bar. His knowledge of law is compre- hensive and exact. He is familiar with principle and precedent, and the analytical trend of his mind enables him to readily apply his knowledge to points in litigation.
It is not alone in the field of his chosen profession, however, that Frederick S. Stratton is known and honored. Immediately follow- ing the earthquake and the fire of 1906 Mr. Stratton was appointed a member of the Red Cross committee of San Francisco and of the Oakland relief committee and in that capacity assisted largely in the distribution of fourteen million dollars sent for the relief of the sufferers. It was at a period when sound judgment had to direct sympathy and when business management was necessary to meet the exigencies of the case, and in none of these qualities was he found lacking.
At various times public honors have been conferred upon him. In 1897 Alameda county elected him to the state senate and during his connection therewith he carefully studied every situation that bore upon the welfare of the commonwealth, introducing many important measures and advocating others which found their way to the statute books and have had to do with shaping the later existence and policy of the state. From the time of his election to the senate until the present Frederick S. Stratton has been a recognized leader in public affairs in California and the Oakland Enquirer said in this connection : "His record is one of distinguished public service, based upon progressive ideas and marked by unflinching integrity and unswerving fidelity to duty and to the public interests." One of the measures which he put through while a member of the general assem- bly was that which increased the State University tax from one cent to two, thus providing a substantially increased revenue with which to help build up the university to its present gigantic proportions. He also wrote and put through the bill which exempted Leland Stan- ford, Jr., University from taxation and wrote and fathered the bill which established primary elections in the state. He afterward drafted every amendment to this law passed by the legislature up to 1909 and also all the constitutional amendments necessary to meet the new order in the election laws through their evolution to the direct primary measure. He is the author of the first primary law ever introduced into the California assembly and which, after many Vol. II-3
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
amendments, finally developed into the present law as it is found upon the statute books of the state today. In 1900 he was called to the position of collector of the port of San Francisco and his duties in that connection were mostly of a judicial character, for upon him devolved the task of making decision upon practically all questions officially submitted to him according to the law of the land.
Mr. Stratton might have had many other political honors, had he desired. Twice would President Roosevelt have made him assist- ant secretary of the United States treasury had he not declined to serve, owing to the fact that he did not wish to leave his home and establish his residence in Washington. Many of his friends and admirers urged him to become a candidate for the United States senate, but, as that would have meant removal to Washington had he been elected, he again declined. He prefers California as a place of residence and does not care to accept office that will take him from his native state.
Mr. Stratton has ever been a stalwart republican, with progressive views. He has studied the vital questions with thoroughness, and his position is based upon the keenest interest in the welfare and progress of the country and the adoption of those principles which he deems of vital force in advancing the national good. One other feature of his public service worthy of mention is the fact that he was the author and twice introduced the legislative measure for the exemption of church property from taxation, a measure that was finally passed. His knowledge of law has been of the utmost value to him in his public career and as lawyer and legislator his record is one which reflects honor and credit upon the state that has honored him. Since his retirement from the office of collector of the port of San Francisco, in which he served under the administrations of Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft, he has continued in pri- vate practice, with a clientage which in extent and importance indi- cates his standing among the foremost members of the California bar.
A. G. DEARDORFF, M. D.
The ability with which Dr. A. G. Deardorff has handled intricate and important cases at once indicates his marked ability and his high standing in the profession. He practices at Berkeley, and through- out his connection with the profession his progress has been con- tinuous. He was born near Oakland, Oregon, in 1854. and is a
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
representative of a pioneer family of the northwest, his parents being W. H. B. and Georgiana (Harl) Deardorff. In 1849 the father came to California from the vicinity of Burlington, Iowa, and in the fall of 1851 went to Portland, Oregon. The following winter he returned to Iowa, where he remained for about a year, and in the spring of 1853 he married and organized a company of relatives and friends, numbering more than one hundred people, whom he piloted across the plains to the Pacific coast, being particularly well qualified to act as their leader because he had been over the ground before. Mr. Deardorff and most of the party located in Oregon, but a few continued on their way to California. In the Beaver state he engaged in ranching and after years of earnest and well directed labor he retired and established his home in the town of Oakland, Oregon, where he remained until his death, which occurred November 25, 1902. His widow survived him for about nine years and passed away in Portland, Oregon, in May, 1911.
Dr. Deardorff pursued his education in the schools of Wilbur, Oregon, with an academic course in Willamette University. He then taught school in Oregon for several years and also engaged in farming for a time. He lived most economically, saving his earn- ings until he had a sum sufficient to enable him to pursue a course in medicine. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, in the fall of 1878, and was graduated with the class of 1882. At once he returned to Oregon and engaged in the practice of medicine in the town of Jefferson. There he continued until the fall of 1885, when he established his home temporarily in Salem, but in 1886 removed to Fresno. In that city he enjoyed a liberal and extensive practice, remaining there for nearly ten years. In 1895 he opened an office in San Francisco, where he practiced for eleven years, or until the fire of 1906. In August of that year he came to Berkeley, where he was soon well established as a successful physician. He has since resided here and has always been very active with the exception of the year 1913, when, owing to ill health, he was not able to practice. In 1909, in connection with G. C. Bohannon, he organized the Bohannon Cancer Institute, a sanitarium for the scientific treatment of cancer. The institution was thoroughly equipped along the most scientific lines and the work accomplished has been of most splendid and commendable character. While in Fresno Dr. Deardorff was for some time United States examiner for pensions. He is never a man to rest content with his success of past years, nor is he content to continue the practice of his profession according to the old methods. On the contrary, he is at all times
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
busy in experimental work and study and in his research work has been remarkably successful. His progress is of a character that will be of decided help to humanity through the prevention of disease. He is successfully administering vaccines and serum treatments for the cure of chronic and acute rheumatism, pneumonia, bronchitis, typhoid, diphtheria and numerous other prevalent and dreaded diseases.
He and his wife are members of the Congregational church at Berkeley, in which Dr. Deardorff is serving as a trustee. Mrs. Dear- dorff is also active in the church and in the social circles of the Bay cities. Dr. Deardorff belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree. He assisted in organiz- ing and firmly establishing the republican party in Fresno county and while there was closely associated with the late Joseph Baker in political affairs. On all political, economic and sociological as well as professional questions he keeps abreast with the best thinking men of the age and is well fitted for leadership upon many essential questions.
GEORGE F. WITTER.
George F. Witter, prominently identified with professional in- terests of Oakland as an able and successful lawyer, was born in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, on the 8th of November, 1863, a son of George F. and Frances Witter. He attended the public and high schools in his native city until 1880, when he entered the North- western Business College, remaining a pupil in that institution for one year thereafter. In 1881 he entered the University of Wisconsin and after two years laid aside his books, turning his attention to teaching and becoming principal of the high school at Humbird, Wisconsin. He did earnest, straightforward and efficient work in that capacity until 1885, when he again became a student in the State University, remaining until he received his degree in 1887. He afterward resumed his teaching, going to Merrill, Wisconsin, where as principal of the city schools he reorganized the entire public- school system of the city, placing it upon a more thorough and busi- nesslike basis. His able and forceful work won him reelection to the position of principal but this he resigned in the fall of 1887 in order to accept the office of principal of the high school at Marsh- field, Wisconsin, where he remained until the fall of 1888.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
In that year he determined to study law and accordingly entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1889 and winning admission to the bar in the same year. He opened his first office in Wallace, Idaho, where he built up a lucrative patronage which he continued to conduct until 1892, going in that year to California and locating at Paso Robles, where he engaged in general practice until 1900. From Paso Robles he moved to San Francisco, becoming prominent and well known in legal circles of that city, where he remained until 1906, when he moved to Oakland, and he has since been in practice here, making steady progress in his profession and controlling today a representative and extensive clientage.
In Humbird, Wisconsin, on January 22, 1891, Mr. Witter was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Carter and they have become the parents of five children: Jean C., who is twenty-one years of age; Esta, who is attending the high school; Edwin, aged fourteen; Phelps, aged ten; and Wendell, who is two years of age.
Mr. Witter is a member of the Congregational church and fra- ternally is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World. He is a republican in his political beliefs, and although he is not active as an office seeker he takes an intelligent interest in the growth of the community and does everything in his power to promote and ad- vance it. His salient qualities of character commend him to the confidence and good-will of his fellow citizens, and his circle of friends is constantly increasing.
J. A. HILL, M. D. C., V. S.
Among the veterinary surgeons of Oakland, California, there is none who enjoys a higher reputation for efficiency than Dr. J. A. Hill, a native of Yolo county, this state. When a young man he followed the sea, spending many years on the trans-Pacific liners and traveling extensively, touching on his journeys all of the important Pacific ports. In 1903 he took a course at the Chicago Veterinary College, graduating in 1906. Shortly afterward he opened an office in Alameda, beginning the practice of his profession. In the fall of 1911 he moved to East Oakland, where he built a most completely equipped veterinary hospital for the care of sick and maimed animals. The building is forty by one hundred and twenty-five feet, modern in every respect and sanitary to the minutest detail. Good ventila-
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
tion is provided and pure water is always at hand. An idea as to the up-to-date improvements prevailing is given in the fact that even a roof garden is provided for the dogs. There are spacious box stalls for sick and convalescent animals and, last but not least, there is the expert knowledge, wide experience and care of Dr. Hill. He is fortunate in having the services of a humane and kindly attendant whose object it is to furnish the animals the greatest possible comfort.
The Doctor has an interesting military record to his credit, having served in the Spanish-American war with Company A, of the United States Regular Engineers' Corps, on the Philippine islands, his services extending over thirteen months. He was detailed on many surveying parties, often assigned to special duty, and assisted in raising small sunken vessels. He also was engaged in clearing the rivers and streams as far south as Jolo. He keeps in touch with his comrades of that memorable conflict through his membership in the United Spanish War Veterans and is also a member of several fra- ternal organizations. He is veterinarian for the First Battalion Field Artillery, National Guard of California, which includes Bat- tery B of Oakland, A of Los Angeles and C of Stockton. During the summer of 1912 he was the veterinarian in charge of the horses in the war maneuvers which were held in Monterey county. As is but natural Dr. Hill is a great lover of animals and is especially fond of fine horses, of which he owns four, some of them broken to driving and some saddle horses. He is enthusiastic over the advan- tages of Oakland, its climate and its living conditions and is ever ready to extol the beauties of his home city. He says that in all his travels he has never found a place which pleases him as well as his California home, and his enthusiastic spirit finds vent in the support of many worthy enterprises undertaken in the interests of the public along material or intellectual lines.
REV. LAWRENCE SERDA.
One of the greatest individual forces in the spread of Catholic doctrines in Oakland and in the promotion of Catholic educational interests in this part of Alameda county is Rev. Lawrence Serda, pastor of the Sacred Heart church, founder and upbuilder of the school in connection with it, a scholar, educator and a worthy and upright Christian gentleman. He was born in Spain and in that country acquired his general education, afterward spending three
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
years in the study of theology. At the end of that time he went to Ireland, where he continued his studies and where he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood.
In August, 1870, Father Serda crossed the Atlantic to America and, making his way to California, went directly to St. Francis church, in San Francisco, owing to the fact that Father Andrew Garriga, the assistant at that church, had been a classmate of his in the theological college in Spain. After a brief stay he was appointed assistant to Father King at St. Mary's church in Oakland, where he remained for about two years, at the end of which time he was re- quested to go to San Jose as assistant to Father Gallagher, pastor of St. Patrick's church. Father Serda was chosen for this charge for the reason that the mining camp Alamaden was attended from St. Patrick's church and it required a man who spoke both Spanish and English. He continued at San Jose for two and a half years and during that period attended the noted California bandit Basques at the time of the latter's execution, staying with him during his last days and administering to him the last sacraments. At the close of his work there Father Serda was returned to St. Mary's church in Oakland to again become assistant to Father King, with whom he remained for one year. He established his present parish (Sacred Heart) in Oakland, December 17, 1876. This church is one of the oldest in the county and has been served by Father Serda continu- ously since its foundation. Before the erection of the church build- ing services were held in the home of A. M. Montgomery, and the first church was soon afterward erected, a small wooden building seventy by fifty feet in dimensions, fronting on Fortieth street.
Father Serda, always interested in the cause of education and a most earnest believer in its value and efficacy, established in 1880 a small school in connection with his church and brought three sisters from the convent to teach his classes. No funds being available to pay them, Father Serda built a small room and installed a piano in it, where the sisters gave lessons in music in order to defray the expenses of the school. This was the only remuneration they re- ceived for their services. Later another school was erected for the boys of the parish and this was taught by the Christian Brothers until 1899, when the church and all the surrounding buildings were destroyed by fire. Following the fire the people of his parish, and several other Catholics in Oakland as well, were as liberal as they possibly could be and readily furnished funds to start the new build- ings. They were gradually rebuilt and in 1902 a large school and home was erected. The sisters at this time received permission to
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
teach the boys, and the school has been uninterruptedly prosperous since that time. In 1910 a fine grammar and commercial grade school was erected and the institution has now primary, grammar and commercial departments. Eight teachers are employed and the attendance averages from three hundred and fifty to three hundred and seventy-five pupils. This is a fine modern and well equipped institution of learning and has been built up against almost over- whelming obstacles by Father Serda, who has labored unsparingly to make it what it is today. Adjoining it is the pastor's home and a fine modern stone church, which was dedicated December 15, 1901. Great credit is due Father Serda for the important work he has accomplished along religious and educational lines-work the value of which it is impossible to estimate and which he has done unosten- tatiously and with no desire for personal aggrandizement. He has, indeed, been an apostle among the Catholic people of Oakland, and he has their love in large measure, as he has the confidence, esteem and respect of people of all denominations.
S. H. BUTEAU, M. D.
Dr. S. H. Buteau, a leading surgeon of the Bay cities and promi- nently known by reason of his important achievements in medical circles of the state, was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, January 4, 1864. At the age of seven he was brought to California by his parents and acquired his education in the public and high schools of Oakland. His first work was teaching, and in this he spent eight years. Deciding to enter the field of medicine he matriculated at the Cooper Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1889. He soon took up the practice of his profession, but not being content with the field of study which he had covered he has since spent much time abroad in post-graduate work, visiting Vienna, Edinburgh and the many centers noted for expert physicians and surgeons.
Dr. Buteau has always kept in close touch with the most advanced medical thought and his prominence and distinction as an able sur- geon is reflected in his extensive practice and important professional connections. He is a trustee of the Merritt estate and was one of the builders of the Samuel Merritt Hospital, which has an endowment of one million dollars and is one of the leading hospitals in the west. Dr. Buteau specializes in surgery and has attained an enviable repu- tation in this field, not only because he has performed a number of
DR. S. H. BUTEAU
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
difficult operations most successfully but also by virtue of the fact that through his own investigation and research he has been able to give to the surgical world a most important operation. He is a member of the state board of medical examiners and is in close touch with the work of the various medical associations. In 1904 he served the Oakland board of health. His memberships include the American Association of Surgeons and the American Association of Gynecolo- gists and Obstetricians. He was a popular lecturer in the Cooper Medical College, in which he was once a student, and has contributed many valuable articles to the foremost medical journals.
Dr. Buteau wedded Miss Alice Buswell, a native of Oakland, and they have two daughters, Alice and Helen. The Doctor is well known in the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in the lodge, chapter and commandery. His personal characteristics have gained for him the warm regard and friendship of many, while in profes- sional circles he has gained that eminence which comes only in recog- nition of merit and ability.
ANDREW E. JOHNSTONE.
There is no more efficient, able and farsighted man in public service in Oakland than Andrew E. Johnstone, chief deputy county clerk of Alameda county. He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, on the 8th of September, 1876, and is a son of Robert and Martha Johnstone, who came to Oakland in 1883. In this city their son attended public school, graduating from the high school in 1894 and afterward entering the University of California, from which he received a degree in pharmacy after two years. He began his busi- ness career as pharmacist with Leber & Jackson Brothers, druggists, in Oakland, and he continued to hold this position until 1903. when he resigned in order to become manager of the Oakland Crematory. After one year he became deputy in the registration department of the county clerk's office, where three years of able and practical work brought him advancement to the position of chief deputy. Hc is still serving and has proved capable and farsighted in the discharge of his duties, being today one of the most popular men on the roster of county officials.
Fraternally Mr. Johnstone is identified with the Masonic order, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Loyal Order of Moose, and he is past president of Live Oak
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Chapter, National Union. He has been a resident of Oakland since his childhood and has become well known to his fellow citizens, who hold him in high esteem for his many sterling qualities of mind and character and his genuine personal worth.
UNITED HOME BUILDERS.
One of the busiest places in Oakland today is the offices of the United Home Builders which, established in 1913, has already be- come one of the important factors in the development of the city. This stable corporation is practically the pioneer of the home build- ing investment idea in the city, and its method of operation furnishes a thorough demonstration of the value of a publicly-financed com- pany under the direction of practical men and backed by assets greater than its market value for its shares. The United Home Builders have introduced into Oakland a system of doing business which has proved immensely successful and profitable in Los An- geles. Home-building companies are fixed necessities in the develop- ment of the west and are here to stay. They are founded upon scientific principles and although originally experimental, are today as established in principle as banks, insurance companies or any other form of investment in which the public's money may par- ticipate.
The United Home Builders combine the best features of the most successful companies. The concern was organized after years of close study of the home building investment idea and gives to the people of Oakland all that is good in the companies that have proven successful elsewhere, as well as added features which make this the best investment of its kind ever offered. The profits of the United l Iome Builders will be derived from the following sources: First, by purchasing tracts of home building property, by subdividing this property, improving it, building homes on it and taking a profit three ways in the process. Second, by building homes on the prop- erty owned by others. Third, by buying properties at wholesale and selling them at retail. Fourth, by operating in country lands along the same principles. Fifth, by the conduct of a general real-estate and insurance business, including every branch, which they can do on a larger and more profitable scale than a company with less capital and prestige. These sources of profit are not problematical either in theory or practice. The United Home Builders are actually
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