Absalom B. Stuart, M. D.

One of the most engaging and striking personalities in the medical and surgical science in Sonoma county was that of Absalom B. Stuart, whose death July 30, 1887, was a distinct loss to the profession and a blow to family and friends that time has not healed. A long and trying experience as physician during the Civil war worked ravages in his constitution from which he never fully recovered, but only those near in kinship knew of his suffering, his fine genial nature making him an ideal physician and companion at all times.

A native of Williamsburg, Pa., Dr. Stuart was born August 27, 1830, a son of James and Mary Ann (Boyles) Stuart. His education was acquired in the public schools of Williamsburg and at Lewisburg University, his medical training being received in Berkshire Medical College and Bellevue Medical College, of New York. After his first graduation he located in Westhampton, Mass., and from there he afterward located in the middle-west, first in Doddsville, Ill., and then in Macomb, same state, and it was in the latter town that he was married in September, 1859, to Anabel McGaughey. The breaking out of the Civil war soon after their marriage took the doctor and his wife to the scene of battle, and between the date of his enlistment, in August, 1861, and the date of his retirement from the service, in January, 1864, is a record of bravery and devotion to country and humanity which history can never do justice to. At the time of his enlistment he was assistant surgeon of the Tenth Missouri Infantry, and in the spring of 1862 he was appointed by General Rosecrans medical superintendent of the hospitals of Iuka, Miss. The duties which thus devolved upon him were discharged fearlessly and nobly and merited the promotion which followed in April 1863, as surgeon of a company raised in Alabama in command of northern officers, and known as the First Alabama United States Cavalry. Overwork, both in the line of his professional duties and out of it, led to his physical breakdown, and in January, 1864, he and his wife, who in the meantime had been his almost constant companion, returned to their home in Macomb, Ill. Subsequntly the removed to Winona, Minn., where, as his health gradually improved, he built u a large and flourishing practice. Aside from his private practice he was instrumental in organizing the state board of health in 1872, becoming its first president; was a member of the County Medical Society and its president in 1872; was secretary of the section on state medicine and public hygiene in 1873; and first vice-president of the Minnesota State Medical Society in 1874 and 1876. Other honors were his in 1872, when he was elected teacher of surgery in the Winona Preparatory Medical School, and the year following he served as president of the school. In 1876 he was a delegate to the International Medical Congress at Philadelphia.

During all this time Dr. Stuart’s health had not been all that he could desire, the cold, long winters taking from him any gain that had been made in the warmer months of the year. It was this condition of affairs that brought him to California in 1876. From Los Angeles, where he first settled, he went to Santa Barbara, and finally, in 1880, came to Santa Rosa, where the remainder of his life was passed. In the later years of his practice he had the invaluable assistance and co-operation of his wife, who had become a medical practitioner, and since his death has continued the practice of her profession. With his wife Dr. Stuart bequeathed $10,000 to the California Baptist College, in recognition of which the college perpetuated the name of their beloved daughter in Mary Stuart Hall. Dr. Stuart and his wife had been sorely tried in the death of their three children, two in infancy and Mary at the age of twelve years. She was born in Winona, Minn., October 31, 1871, and died in California August 23, 1883, four years before the death of her father. Fraternally and socially Dr. Stuart was identified with the Masons and the Grand Army of the Republic. The literature of the medical profession was enriched from his pen in the “Annual Report of the Minnesota State Board of Health for 1873”; and “The Upper Epiphysis of the Radius,” published in the “Transactions of the Minnesota State Medical Society” in 1876. The mortal remains of Dr. Stuart were buried in Santa Rosa, the funeral services being conducted by Rev., E. H.
Gray, of Oakland, who was chaplain of the United States senate when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and who was pastor of the Baptist Church of which Dr. Stuart was a member for many years.

History of Sonoma County, California

History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891

Los Angeles, Ca. 191

Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood

March 10, 2011 Pages 848-849

Anabel McG. Stuart, M. D.

To attain to so honored a place in the community as has Dr. Anabel McG. Stuart, of Santa Rosa, is to live worthily and to improve the opportunities within reach of one’s ability and industry. Without doubt the training and surroundings of her girlhood had much to do with formulating those principles of uprightness, courage and honesty of purpose which have been such noticeable characteristics in her later career. A native of West Virginia, she was born in Martinsburg May 4, 1840, the eldest of the children born to her parents, Hugh F. and Jane (Walker) McGaughey, both of whom were born and reared in Pennsylvania. Throughout his active years the father was a well-known figure in railroad construction circles, one of the most notable projects with which he was identified being the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. When their eldest child was nine years old the parents went to the middle-west and settled in Macomb, Ill., where parents and children lived happily together in the close bonds of love and comradeship until 1863, when the home was made desolate by the death of both father and mother.

Miss McGaughey’s girlhood had been uneventfully passed in Illinois, and her education had been acquired in private schools and in McDonough College, Macomb. It was in Doddsville that she met the gentleman who was later to become her husband, Absalom B. Stuart, and in September, 1859, their marriage was celebrated. At the time of their marriage he was a promising young physician of that community, and early in the history of the Civil war he volunteered his services. August 2, 1861, he enlisted (see his sketch) as assistant surgeon in the Tenth Missouri Infantry, and from this date and circumstance it may be said, his wife received her first impetus toward relieving sick and suffering humanity. Not wishing to be separated from her husband, she accompanied him to the field of battle, and it so happened that during his service of over two and a-half years she was able to be with him much of the time, nursing the sick and assisting him in many ways.

Resigning in January, 1864, Dr. Stuart and his wife returned to Macomb, Ill., and two years later removed to Winona, Minn., where the doctor opened an office and rapidly gathered about him a large and influential practice. However, his unwearying service in the Civil war had made inroads upon his constitution from which he was never able to completely recover, and believing that by becoming a co-worker with him in his profession she could relieve him of much of his practice, his wife entered upon her studies with zest. After studying for some time with her husband Mrs. Stuart became interested in research, and in 1876-77 took a course of lectures at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. In the meantime Dr. Stuart’s health had not improved and he had come to California in 1876. It was for the purpose of joining him that in the summer of 1877 she came to California and met him at Santa Barbara. In the fall of that year Mrs. Stuart entered the Medical College of the Pacific, now Cooper Medical College, and on November 5, 1878, she was graduated from that institution. The health-giving climate and sunshine of California proved beneficial, and prolonged the life of Dr. Stuart undoubtedly, and after her graduation husband wife were associated in the practice of their profession for nearly ten years, or until the death of the husband in Santa Rosa in 1887.

Since the death of her husband Dr. Stuart has continued the practice of her profession in this city, keeping abreast of the times in methods of treatment of diseases by study and by association, with and membership in various medical associations, among them the State Medical Society of California, which she joined in 1879; the American Medical Association, being the first women west of the Mississippi river to become a member, and that same year, 1885, a delegate from California to their annual meeting; and the County Medical Society, of which she has served one term as president, passing through the various office in the society with the exception of secretary. In the midst of her professional successes Dr. Stuart has been called upon to suffer keenly, not only the loss of her husband, but in the death of their three beloved children, two of whom died in infancy, each being the only child in their household when taken away. Mary Stuart lived to the interesting age of twelve years, and as the light and joy of the household her death was an irreparable loss, and undoubtedly the death of her father was hastened thereby. Dr. Stuart has tasted deeply of the joys and sorrows of life, and all have contributed to the full, rounded character which she is today, as she goes upon her errands of mercy in the relief of sickness and suffering.

History of Sonoma County, California

History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891

Los Angeles, Ca. 191

Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood

March 11, 2011 Pages 842-844

Frank A. Sullivan

Among the men to be named as factors in the material growth of Santa Rosa is Frank A. Sullivan, who has been identified with the city’s growth for the past seven years, having taken up his residence here in 1903. In following his trade of contractor and builder in the meantime his success has been little short of marvelous and has not been confined to this immediate locality, but has taken him into all parts of northern California.

Not only is Mr. Sullivan proud of the fact that he is a Native Son of California, having been born in Tuolumne county May 1, 1871, but he also takes justifiable pride in the fact that he is a son of one of the state’s early pioneers, Michael Sullivan. He was married in New York City in 1848, to Miss Ellen Baldwin. Leaving his wife in New York, he went to Mexico for service in the Mexican war, after which, in 1850, with his regiment, he came to San Francisco, where he was discharged from service. Soon afterward he was joined by his wife and son, who made the voyage around the Horn on the ship Uncle Sam.

Frank A. Sullivan’s education was started in the schools of his birthplace, Jamestown, Tuolumne county, after which, when he was twelve years of age, the family removed to San Francisco, where he completed his education in the public schools and in Sacred Heart College. His first work was in a hat store in San Francisco. He had not been in the metropolis long before he began to formulate plans for his future along another line of endeavor and in undertaking work at the carpenter’s trade he inserted the entering wedge which has developed into the large business as contractor and builder which is carried on under his name today. He was fortunate in having his training under the largest building contractors of San Francisco, Mahony Brothers, and while with this firm he worked at his trade in San Mateo and Palo Alto.

Mr. Sullivan’s identification with Santa Rosa dates from June 1903, and from the first he has met with success that has been remarkable, but one which is nevertheless deserving. Over sixty buildings in Santa Rosa alone stand as monuments to his skill and ability, among which are included six business blocks on Fourth street, in the heart of the business center of the city. Among the residences which he has constructed may be mentioned those of county auditor Charles A. Poole, county assessor F. Dowd, besides the Hodson, McConnell, Quinn and the Shea residences. In Healdsburg he erected the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, the Catholic church, the Carnegie Library and the Telephone building; the Bank of Ukiah in the city of that name; the interior finishing in the Bank of Sebastopol; the residence of J. D. Ellis and store buildings for Judge Barham in Petaluma; residences in San Rafael and three store buildings in San Francisco; residences in Tomales and in different parts of Sonoma county, and at the present time is erecting a $6,000 residence in Sacramento for J. T. W. DeJong. With what he has already accomplished as a criterion, it is safe to predict a brilliant future for this young and enterprising contractor and builder of Santa Rosa, and all who are familiar with the quality of his work wish him success and use their influence in his behalf.

In his marriage, February 5, 1900, Mr. Sullivan was united with Miss Mary McNamara, who before her marriage was a successful school teacher in Sonoma county. Six children have been born to them, Clare, Leo, Harvey, Pauline, Edward and Stuart. Fraternally Mr. Sullivan is associated with a number of orders, and is holding office in a number of them, being deputy grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, past council in the Modern Woodmen, besides which he is associated with the Native Sons, Foresters of America and the Royal Neighbors. In his political inclinations he is a stanch believer in Democratic principles, and at one time was the representative as delegate to the Democratic state convention held in Sacramento. Recently Mr. Sullivan has associated himself with the celebrated artist, S. T. Daken, in the establishment of the Daken Art Institute of Santa Rosa, Mr. Sullivan being vice-president and general manager of the enterprise.

History of Sonoma County, California

History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891

Los Angeles, Ca. 191

Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood

March 11, 2011 Pages 897-898

John D. Sullivan

Numbered among the prosperous and progressive business men of Sonoma county is John D. Sullivan, of Santa Rosa, who in all probability has the largest cement contracting business maintained by any one person in this section of country. Although a native of Ireland, born in County Cork in 1852, he has no recollection of his birthplace, for when he was a babe in arms he was brought to this country by his parents, who settled in Providence, R. I., and there he was reared and educated. When he was sixteen years of age he apprenticed himself to learn the trade of mason in all its branches with a cousin, who was one of the prominent contractors of that city. After he had learned the trade he followed it until 1875 I Providence, then we find him starting out for the mines in the west, going to the Big Bonanza mine in Virginia City, Nev., where after about four years’ experience he decided to come to California.

Going direct to San Francisco, Mr. Sullivan was fortunate in that he soon was employed on the large Hastings estate in San Francisco. His identification with Santa Rosa dates from January 16, 1884. At that time no cement or concrete contractor had located in the young town, and as the need for such a business was apparent on every hand Mr. Sullivan assumed no venture I supplying himself with the necessary outfit and implements for the work. At first he took contracts for general masonry work, to which he later added the construction of cement sidewalks and curbs, the cement coping in the Santa Rosa cemetery being a notable example of this latter class of work. The uses to which concrete and cement work have been put in recent years has been of tremendous advantage to those engaged in this industry, and Mr. Sullivan has kept abreast of the times and been able to take advantage of each new development in the business. One of these innovations is the construction of cement foundations for buildings, many of which Mr. Sullivan has built in Santa Rosa, but probably the most notable example of his handiwork may be seen in the Exchange Bank and the Nickelodeon theatre, both reinforced concrete buildings. For nine years he was employed at the Home of the Feebleminded at Glen Ellen doing mason work and repairs, also building, by contract, the water works system and the Lux cottage. The last mentioned was the only building on the grounds that was not damaged by the earthquake of 1906, though it is constructed of brick. The present writing (1911) he is engaged in erecting, on contract, the Doyle building, a business block that is being erected on the site of the old postoffice. When completed this structure will cover more ground than any other business block in Santa Rosa.

The family home is located on College Avenue and was built by Mr. Sullivan in 1891. It is surrounded with shrubbery and lawn and is one of the fine homes in that section of the city. Politically Mr. Sullivan is a Democrat in national politics. He is highly respected among his acquaintances, and popular everywhere.

History of Sonoma County, California

History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891

Los Angeles, Ca. 1911

Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood

March 12, 2011 Pages 1019-1020

James Sylvester Perry Sweet

James S. Sweet, the subject of this biographical history, was born in a little log cabin located on the “school section” in the township of Waupun, in the county of Fond du Lac, state of Wisconsin, on April 30, 1853. When he was two years of age his parents moved to the “Old Homestead” located about five miles from the city of Waupun, in the Towne school district, where at the age of five years he began a career that today stands prominent in the history of American educators. At twelve years of age he moved with his parents to the city of Ripon in order to secure the advantages of better educational facilities, and when twenty-two years old started for the Pacific coast to carve his fortune in a new field of labor which to him seemed to offer excellent rewards.

The records show that the first ancestor of the name in the United States was one John Sweet, who with Governor Winthrop came to Massachusetts and landed at Salem in 1630. In 1637 he went to Rhode Island and was one of the fifty who received a grant of land from Roger Williams, whose title was obtained from the Indians and from the crown of England. John and his good wife, Mary, were the parents of three children: John (2), James (2), and Meribah (2), (afterwards Renewed), whose descendants now are found in every state in the Union. The direct lineal ancestry of James Sylvester is as follows: John (1), James (2), Benoni (3), James (4), Job (5), Rufus (6), Samuel (7), Sylvester (8), James Sylvester (9).

Samuel C. (7), grandfather of James S. Sweet, was born in Kingston, R. I., and married Miss Hannah Perry, a daughter of the famous Perrys of English and American naval history, and to this union was born Sylvester D. (8), the father of the subject of this sketch.

Sylvester Damon Sweet was born in the county of Erie, in the state of New York, February 5, 1820, and died June 21, 1876, while on a visit to his relatives in Humphrey, Cattaraugus county, of the same state. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his own county, and he afterwards received the benefits of a higher course at an academy. His longing to come west brought him to settle in Walworth county, Wis., in 1843, and later to Fond du Lac county, where he took up considerable government land, owning at one time one of the finest farms in the county. In 1865 he moved to Ripon, where he was known as one of the most progressive and public spirited citizens, always taking an active part in social, moral, and religious affairs. He was known as a man of strict integrity, whose word was as good as his bond, and no worthy cause in charity was ever turned away from his door without a sympathetic hearing with his fullest measure of relief. His life was blessed by his union in marriage with Miss Julina Fairbank, daughter of Ellis Fairbank, a direct descendant of Jonathan Fairbank, the first emigrant of that name who settled in Dedham, Mass., in 1636, and whose original dwelling still stands, a monument to the memory of that early pioneer family. Mrs. Sweet passed to rest at San Diego, Cal., July 10, 1910, sweetly conscious of a life hereafter, and with an implicit faith that the Great Creator of all would still take care of her in the life beyond. She was a woman of excellent judgment in the affairs of life, kind and sympathetic to those needing assistance, and her deeds of charity were limited only by the resources at her command. Her friends were legion and her acts of kindness unnumbered. Such were the parents of James S. Sweet, and he fortunately inherited many of the sterling qualities of his ancestors.

His early life on the farm taught him the necessity of labor and the happiness that comes from a love of doing. In his early school life he was known as a prodigy in spelling and in figuring. His advancement was so rapid that he found himself in the classes with others so big that he had to stand on a chair in order to read from the same book. His one delight was to go to school and the age of seventeen found him with a teacher’s certificate and qualified to teach in a district school. His first effort in that line called him to take charge of the old Towne school, where he first attended in his early boyhood days. This term was so successful that his services were afterwards always in demand, and it has been his boast that he never saw a time when he could not find employment at his profession.

After completing his course at the first ward Ripon high school he entered Ripon College, and by teaching part of the time in district schools and by working on the farm in the summer, he was enabled to secure means with which he laid a foundation for future educational work that has proved so valuable in later years. Besides his courses in the Ripon high school and in Ripon College e attended the state normal school at Oshkosh and later received the degrees of A. B. and A. M. from the National University of Illinois. His experience as an educator has been one of marked success and covering over forty years of actual work in the class room. His work on the Pacific coast began with the principalship of the Unionville public schools, Unionville, Nev., after which he accepted the principalship of the Winnemucca schools, later filling a similar position in the Independence schools of Independence, Ore., where he remained three years.

The only break in Mr. Sweet’s educational career came at the close of his term at Independence. At this time he accepted a place as traveling agent for the Northwestern Manufacturing and Car Company, of Stillwater, Minn. Although quite successful in this line of work, his chosen profession seemed to have greater attractions for him, and he accepted a call to the principalship of the Ashland public schools, at Ashland, Ore. After holding this position for three years, his success was so marked that the board of regents of the state normal school called him to the presidency of that institution. Here did he again prove his resourcefulness and ability as an educator, and the school prospered as never before. In three years the old building was filled to its capacity, and President Sweet asked the state legislature to make an appropriation sufficient to put up a new and modern building, large enough to accommodate the teachers who wished to secure the valuable training they so much needed. This the legislature refused to do and he immediately sent in his resignation and accepted a position as instructor in literature and the sciences in the Santa Rosa high school of Santa Rosa, Cal.

After one year’s work in the high school Mr. Sweet founded the Santa Rosa Business College, which institution has won a reputation for thorough and conscientious work second to no other in the United Stets. Thousands of his students almost without exception are ready to testify, not only to his ability as an educator, but to his life of industry, integrity and morality. His is the life of continual activity, and now he is publishing a line of commercial college text books of which he is the author, and which are used in hundreds of the business colleges of the United States and Canada. These books, consisting of texts on colleges of the United States and Canada. These books, consisting of texts on bookkeeping, arithmetic, business correspondence and spelling, are unique, and thoroughly illustrate the individual methods that have made Mr. Sweet’s educational career so successful.

In his political sympathies Mr. Sweet has always espoused Democratic principles, although he never has sought or desired official position. However, in 1898, he was nominated and elected mayor of the city of Santa Rosa. His first term was so satisfactory that he was again elected for a second term in 1900. During the latter year he was also a delegate to the National Democratic convention held in Kansas City, when William Jennings Bryan was for the second time nominated for president of the United States of America. Fraternally Mr. Sweet is a charter member of Santa Rosa Lodge, No. 646, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Mr. Sweet is compiling a genealogical history of the “Sweet Family in America” which he expects to have ready for publication in the near future. This work will be the crowning effort of his life and will undoubtedly be an invaluable record of the members of this pioneer family, whose long line of posterity is one of unbroken family pride.

History of Sonoma County, California

History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891

Los Angeles, Ca. 1911

Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood

March 13, 2010 Pages 774-779