Yolo County Biographies – B
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A. G. BAILEY A professional career that began with his admission to the bar of the
state January 14, 1907, give abundant indication of future successes
for Mr. Bailey. Indeed, already he has achieved a position highly creditable
to one so young in years and in professional experience. Conscientious
endeavor, dating back to early childhood and continued without abatement
up to the present time, has brought him to an established position among
the able citizens of Yolo county, and he further has the honor of being
one of the youngest district attorneys in California. Nature endowed
him with qualities well adapting him to public affairs. Conservative
in spirit, yet a friend of progress, a logical reasoner and a fluent
speaker, he throws himself into professional affairs with an energy
that bespeaks success when coupled with the attributes indispensable
to the law. James David BAIRD The opportunities afforded by Yolo county to men of self-reliant spirit
and persevering energy find a striking illustration in the successful
activities of James D. Baird, who came here at the age of ten years,
the son of a pioneer who gave to his children the heritage represented
by rugged constitutions, education and sagacious training. The family
is of Anglo-Saxon lineage and its representatives in the new world give
evidence of the possession of many of the traits for which that race
is famous. In his own history it is apparent that he is a man not easily
daunted by discouragements and not readily disheartened by obstacles.
Quietly by energetically he worked his way forward until now he ranks
among the large land-owners of the county as well as one of its most
loyal citizens and progressive farmers. J. E. BAIRD J. E. BAIRD, an agriculturalist near Woodland, is the son of Thomas
and Mary (Hodgin) Baird, who were natives of England; the father by
vocation was an engineer and mill-wright, and died in Woodland in 1878.
The subject of this sketch was born in England in 1852, and was brought
to America when only two years of age; after living in Missouri until
1859 he came to California and located in Woodland. He now has a fine
farm of 400 acres a mile east of that place; and he is also a partner
with three brothers in 320 acres near Knight's Landing. Wheat is their
principal product. Mr. Baird is not married. Thomas BAIRD Forty years have wrought their marvelous transformations in city and
on farms since time ceased and eternity began for Thomas Baird, an Englishman
by birth and lineage, but an American in his keen desire to grasp opportunity
and in his pre-eminent characteristics of enterprise and optimism. Comparatively
brief, as we count time, was the period of his sojourn near the western
coast of our country and brief also was the duration of his residence
in America, nevertheless he was able to lay the foundation of a permanent
prosperity which, although death prevented his own consummation thereof,
aided his children in their personal efforts to accumulate a competency.
When he crossed the ocean to the new world he was young and strong,
but without means or friends, and the early years of his association
with our country represented a constant endeavor on is part to earn
a livelihood. For some time he made his home in Richmond, Mo., and followed
the trade of a millwright, in which he was not only experienced, but
also unusually capable. Early in manhood he had married Miss Mary A.
Hutchinson and they cross the plains in 1859, making the tedious journey
with wagons and oxen after the fashion of the day. During the spring
of 1862 he settled on a ranch one mile east of Woodland and here he
died in 1871, his wife having died two years before. Hon. Francis E. BAKER A native of Michigan, Francis E. Baker was born in Quincy, October
2, 1839, and he made his home in his native state until he became a
resident of California. His early education was followed by a course
in Hillsdale College, which he entered in 1860 and continued his studies
there until the fall of 1862. It was at that time that he entered the
law department of the University of Michigan, and immediately after
his graduation, March 31, 1864, he was admitted to the bar. In the following
year he came to California via Panama, and in 1867 he located in Yolo
county, and here he engaged in teaching until 1871, when he began the
practice of law. In September, 1873, he was elected district attorney,
and in 1875 he was re-elected, thus holding the office from March 4,
1874, until March 4, 1878. Transcribed by Bea Barton Colonel John Cameron BALL As the name will indicate to any one conversant with such matters, Colonel Ball is a member of one of the oldest families in Virginia. His father, Joseph L. Ball, was born and raised in Loudonn County, Virginia, on the James River. His mother, Mary Cameron, was also a native of Virginia, whose father, John Cameron, was born in the Highlands of Scotland, emigrating thence to Virginia. The Cameron family is well remembered as one that espoused the unfortunate cause of Prince Charlie (Charles Stuart, the lawful holder of the throne of England), in his last attempt to assert his rights, backed by his loyal Scottish subjects. Readers of the celebrated poem, "Lochiel," will recognize the circumstances. Both the Ball and Cameron families were planters and slave-holders in the South, Joseph L. Ball, the father of our Colonel J. C. Ball, emancipating his slaves some time in the thirties from conscientious scruples on the subject, and removing to Jefferson County, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio River. There the younger members of the family were born, and there he died in 1872, at the age of seventy years. He was the father of eleven children, nine sons and two daughters, of whom the daughters and six of the sons grew to maturity, and save one are all still living. Of the six sons all are over six feet in height, and all unusually strong and robust. The father was a man of remarkable strength and possessed a powerful frame. But we cannot do better than reproduce a short sketch of the life and career of Colonel Ball, from the columns of a local paper written by one who knows him well: "John Cameron Ball, who has had the principal management of the defense in the now famous case of the People vs. J. H. Harlan, is a man of mature years, sagacious in management, cool and accurate in judgment and well versed in his profession. "His unusually fine physical constitution enabled him to be present in court at every session during the protracted trial, lasting for fifty-seven consecutive days. He has been prominently connected on the side of the defense with many other important criminal trials, being opposed in principle to taking a fee to prosecute in capital cases. "Colonel Ball was born in Brook County, Virginia (now a portion of West Virginia), May 15, 1831, and from his early childhood resided with his parents near Steubenville, in the State of Ohio, until he emigrated to the State of California, in the spring of 1855, and on his arrival in this State he engaged in mining and pursued it with variable success in Placer and Nevada counties for some six years. Upon quitting the mines he moved to Yolo County and engaged in teaching school, and while so engaged was elected to the office of District Attorney. He moved to Woodland in the spring of 1858, where he has since resided, actively engaged in the practice of law. One year of that time he served as a member of the State Land Commission, an office to which he was appointed by Governor Irwin, and as the chairman of that commission it will be remembered by readers of newspapers that he caused the investigation to be thorough, and laid bare the fraudulent practices which had prevailed in the Land Department of the State. He received an academic education at the Richmond College, and at the age of twenty commenced the study of law under the advice and supervision of Edwin M. Stanton, the great war Secretary under Lincoln. Colonel Ball has always been a hard student and lover of his chosen profession. His clear insight into men and measures, coupled with his industry, untiring energy and unswerving integrity, has placed him where he belongs, in the front rank of his profession. "He has held, by election, the office of District Attorney of this county for three successive terms, and discharged its duties with marked distinction and rare ability. He is equally at home in civil cases. Mr. Ball possesses that insight into character which enables him to select a jury with almost unerring precision. In this particular he has no superior in this section of the State, and, in fact, has earned for himself the reputation of being one of the best jury lawyers in the State. He is clear and logical in his reasoning upon the facts of a case, and though not a great orator, he is a strong advocate and a forcible speaker. He familiarizes himself with every little detail of the case in which he is engaged, and so thorough was his preparation of the Harlan case, that when Mr. Highton became indisposed and unable to appear in court for a whole week, Mr. Ball proceeded with the trial as though nothing unusual had happened. In personal appearance he is five feet ten and one-half inches high, broad-shouldered and deep-chested, a large, round, well-balanced head; dark brown hair and beard, tinged with gray; blue, penetrating eyes, and a firm mouth, expressive of great determination of character. In manners he is disposed to be polite, generous and steadfast to his friends. He is a straightforward business man, of sober and exemplary habits, and has accumulated considerable property in this and Colusa counties. "In 1864 he was married to Miss Ella M. Tyler, the result of which union is a family of five sons and one daughter, all but the eldest born in Woodland. Colonel Ball has always been a consistent anti-monopoly Democrat - a recognized leader in the councils of his party - never radical, but firm in his convictions upon principle, and always tolerant of the opinions of others, willingly according to them the same rights that he claims for himself." Since the Harlan trial Colonel Ball has been engaged in several important civil cases requiring much labor and attention, among which is the case of Moore vs. Capay Ditch Company. In this action the right to appropriate for agricultural purposes the entire water of Cache Creek, a very considerable stream having its source in Clear Lake, is claimed on the one side, as, against the rights of the riparian owners living along the stream. The Colonel is found upon the side of the settlers, and the case has not yet been decided. Colonel Ball's recognized legal ability and business capacity has
recently secured him the responsible and lucrative position of attorney
for the Central Irrigation District in Colusa County, to which position
he ahs been elected by the unanimous vote of its board of directors. The district is formed under what is known as the "Wright Law," and comprises over 156, 000 acres of good farming land in Colusa County, which, without regard to irrigation, with the improvements already thereon, is of the full cash value of $5,000,000, and will be of immense value when the canal is completed. The district has issued bonds to the amount of $750,000, a portion of which have been sold, and the work of excavating the canal is actively under way. Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California,
The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 Thomas D. BALL One of the earliest settlers of Winters was Mr. Ball, who contributed
materially toward the development of this section, and whose death,
February 27, 1902, deprived his fellow citizens of one of their most
beloved friends and co-workers. C. P. BALZARI dairyman at Woodland, was born July 4, 1855, in Switzerland, of which country his parents, James and Constance (Mattie) Balzari, are also natives; the father, who has been a merchant most of his life, is still living there. When our subject was twelve years of age, he and his father came to California by water, landing at Petaluma, where he was engaged in the livery business until 1878; then he worked on a farm at Elmira, Solano County, until 1880, when he moved near Madison, Yolo County, and followed farming there until the next year, when he came to Woodland and started his present dairy ranch, where he keeps seventy head of cows and is the leading dairyman in that locality. He keeps the finest grades of stock. His gross income is $500 per month. He has 240 acres of land near Cottonwood in Shasta County, and twenty acres in Willow Oak Park, Yolo County. He was united in marriage, December 23, 1876, in Yolo County, with
Eva A. Merrell, a native of Michigan, born November 18, 1858, the daughter
of U. P. and Almira (Finch) Merrell, her father a native of Connecticut
and her mother of Michigan. They have two sons: Charles W., born July
7, 1878, and Robert A., January 2, 1884. Frank J. BARNES Frank J. Barnes, a farmer of Yolo County, is a son of Abram and Grace Barnes, natives of Kentucky, who moved to Missouri, where the father served in the Indian war, and the mother, in the fort of Howard County, moulded bullets for the company. It was in that county, in 1836, that the subject of this sketch was born, and when eighteen years of age he crossed plain and mountain to California, with his mother and the family; his father had come in 1850. The latter followed mining, but mostly farming and stock-raising to the time of his death in 1875. The widow died in 1877. Mr. Frank J. Barnes has been a resident of Yolo County ever since his arrival in California, excepting the two years he was in Butte County. He has had a farm of his own, raising grain and live-stock, excepting about three years in the butcher business in Woodland. His present ranch consists of 130 acres of very fine land lying about three-quarters of a mile west of Woodland on the Main street road, and he has thereon a good two-story dwelling. He was married in 1870, to Miss Harlen, a sister of J. H. Harlen, one of the most prosperous farmers in Yolo County. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have a daughter, named Leonora. Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California,
Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 page 762-763 George L. BARNES The native sons of the Golden West did not have the distinction of "coming the plains across" as did their pioneer fathers and mothers. The children grew up with the country were a part of it from their earliest times, a product of the soil. Nathan Barnes, a native of Ohio, left St. Louis, Mo., in 1852 and crossed the plains to California with ox-teams. The large train disbanded at Sacramento and Mr. Barnes some years later located in Solano county, not far from Denverton. He was there married to Miss Elizabeth Brock, a native of Wisconsin, who came to California with her mother, via Panama, about 1854. The father was accidentally killed in a runaway in 1884, but the mother is still living, at the old home place near Denverton. The eight children born to these parents were as follows: Ross, Maurice, Henry C., Benjamin O., Fred S., George L., Anna and Maud. George L. Barnes was born in Solano county December 25, 1866, and therefore is eligible to membership in the Native Sons of the Golden West. He was educated in the public schools and afterward followed farming until 1892, when he removed to Winters and assumed the management of the F. B. Chandler Company lumber yard. This enterprise was established in 1876 and has continued to do business at the old stand ever since. George L. Barnes married Miss Nellie V. Humphrey, a native of Berryessa valley, and a graduate of the schools of Winters. Their four children are Paul, Helen, Lowell and Virginia. Paul and Helen are pupils at Winters. Like other residents of that remarkable fruitful locality, Mr. Barnes has his orchards near his home town, and for several years past has gathered splendid crops of fruit from his trees. His time, however, is devoted principally to the lumber business, which has grown to be the largest in this end of Yolo county. Mr. Barnes is a member of several fraternal organizations, being a charter member of the Foresters and of the Woodmen of the World. For a number of years he has been a member of the board of trustees of his city, and at present is president. During this time the sewer system has been built. For six years he was also clerk of the board of school trustees. With his wife Mr. Barnes is a communicant of the Christian Church. He has always been a Republican in politics, of the progressive and independent variety, and this progressiveness has characterized all his life. His lumber establishment is one of the enterprising business features of Winters, as its proprietor is one of its most enterprising citizens. Transcribed by Bea Barton H. T. BARNES & Son No modern development in the building business has affected more vitally the permanent character of such work than the introduction and increasing use of cement, which, utilized in foundations or for entire structures as well as in sidewalks, bridges and vaults, has proved an indispensable factor in the industrial growth of every community. The firm of H. T. Barnes & Son, organized in 1906, represents the results of years of activity on the part of the older member of the concern, who for thirty years or more has engaged in cement work in Woodland and vicinity. Meanwhile he has had charge of the building of practically all of the sidewalks in the town, has erected cement dairies in the country and has built vaults and walls in the cemetery, besides erecting a fine monument of reinforced concrete in the city cemetery. The first concrete foundation in this part of Yolo county was put under his residence at No. 524 Walnut street, Woodland, and since then as almost universal adoption of such foundations has followed. Many of these have been put in place under his supervision, including the foundation for the Odd Fellows' Building. A superior quality of cement always has been used. In earlier days much of this was imported from Germany, Belgium and England, but more recently the product manufactured in Solano and Napa counties has grown in popular favor and its practicability has been proved by actual experience. About twenty-seven years ago Mr. Barnes built a reinforced culvert bridge with steel rods, being the first resident of the entire county to attempt such work. Ten years later reinforced work was patented. As early as 1894 he erected at the Yolo Orchard a reinforced concrete packing house, 50x100 feet in dimensions and two and one-half stories high. Although on two different occasions fire has broken out in this packing house and threatened its destruction, its walls are still standing firm and substantial as when first erected. Besides his work in this locality he has had contracts at Suisun, Solano county, and in other counties. The joint bridge between Yolo and Solano county, of which he was the inspector and which was built in 1906, has three spans, each one hundred and twenty-five feet long, and merits especial mention on account of being the largest bridge of its kind west of Kansas City. In 1911 he was inspector on the facing of levees two and one-half miles long in the Lisbon district; and reinforced facing would equal an area of twelve and one-half acres. In it were used over twenty thousand barrels of cement, and it is considered the largest space covered continuously in the United States. Of Canadian birth and parentage, Henry Thomas Barnes was born near the city of Toronto April 14, 1857. At the age of fourteen years he lost by death his father, John Barnes, and then went to Michigan, where he served an apprenticeship under a merchant tailor. The occupation proved too sedentary for his health and he sought outdoor employment, thus having his attention called to the cement business, in which he as been unqualifiedly successful. After he came to California in 1879 he endeavored to resume tailoring, but a short period of work proved too confining and he left San Francisco for Woodland in 1882. In the marble yard of H. P. Martin he found employment congenial to his tastes and suited to his physical demands. Here he began to interest people in cement work. His predecessors had been so unsuccessful that would-be buyers were suspicious of the industry, but Mr. Barnes soon proved that he thoroughly understood the proper proportions of sand and cement necessary for permanent results. Sidewalks laid by him years ago are as solid today as when first laid. Forming a partnership with J. O. Shaffer in 1883 he opened marble yard and plant for the manufacture of cement products on Main street, opposite the Pacific hotel, but when his partner died a year later he discontinued the marble business, since which time he has devoted his energies to the erection of concrete bridges, culverts, foundations, fence posts, water troughs, tanks, houses, business structures, and indeed, the many purposes to which cement is applicable. When he came to Woodland in 1882 Mr. Barnes was unmarried. November 5, 1884, he married Miss Mollie Cosby, a native of St. Charles county, Mo., and a daughter of Josiah Cosby of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are the parents of two children, Cosby H. (his father's partner) and Ruth. Fraternally he holds membership with the Woodland lodge of Masons, chapter and commandery, and with the lodge and encampment of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. For many years Mr. Barnes was a member of the board of trustees of the Odd Fellows' Hall, besides having served as noble grand master and two terms as district grand patriarch of the encampment. In the Rebekahs, to which he and his wife belong, the latter has served as noble grand, and they are also both members of the Order of Eastern Star. The Methodist Episcopal Church South has received their earnest support, and Mr. Barnes for years gave the most efficient service as superintendent of the Sunday school. As a member of the First Rifle Team he accompanied his command from California to the meet at Seagirt, N. J., the government defraying all expenses. For seven years he was a member of the California National Guard and retired with the rank of sergeant of Company F, Second California Regiment, to which his son and partner also has belonged for the past five years or more. The junior member of the firm, Cosby H. Barnes, is a native son of Woodland, born June 1, 1886. After completing his education he was for a time employed with the Wells Fargo Company. Having learned the cement business from a youth, in 1906 he joined his father in the business and since then has been actively interested with him. He was married in Woodland, December 30, 1906 to Miss Hazel Irene Roberts, who was born near Woodland, and to them have been born two children, Virginia Elberta and Elwood Henry. For six years he has been and still is a member of Company F, Second Regiment of California, and served with the regiment at the San Francisco fire in 1906. In 1911 he was a member of the team that won the regimental cup and also the lodge state cup. He holds membership in Woodland Lodge of Masons and encampment of the Odd Fellows, in which he is a past grand, and he is also a member of the Woodmen of the World. Transcribed by Bea Barton Watson BARNES Watson Barnes, an agriculturist in the northwestern part of Yolo County, was born January 2, 1844, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, Silas P. Barnes, a native of New Hampshire and a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation, came to California in 1854. He was engaged in farming and stock-raising after 1851; previous to that he was engaged in the mercantile business in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, for some thirty years. The mother, whose maiden name was Olive Chapman, was a native of the State of Maine. Both parents were of English ancestry. Mr. Barnes, senior, arrived in Salt Lake City in July, 1851, and three years later came on to California, soon locating in Yolo County, where Black's is now situated, and died April 11, 1888, leaving four children, and property worth about $100,000. Mr. Barnes, the subject of this notice, owns 525 acres of finely improved land about five and a half miles northwest of Black's. He was married in Woodland, July 15, 1880, to Miss M. J. Houx, who was born in 1854, in California. Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California,
The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 Otto J. BAUMANN The qualities of accuracy and skill, without which permanent success
cannot be attained in any line of enterprise, are no less important
to the building industry than to other avocation. As leading characteristics
of Otto J. Baumann they have been indispensable factors in the commendable
degree of success which he has secured as a contractor and builder.
While he is of Swiss lineage and nativity (born in September of 1879),
he allows none to surpass him in loyal devotion to American institutions
and in his work he displays the American traits of energy and progressiveness,
combined with the thrift and economical management usually seen in people
who claim Switzerland as their native country. Still in early life,
with a long period of usefulness lying before him, it may be predicted
that he will enjoy a growing reputation for efficiency in his chosen
occupation. R. H. BEAMER There are but few, if any, names more familiar to residents of Woodland and Yolo County, than that of the Beamer family, after whom are named the Beamer Block and Beamer's Addition to Woodland. The father of the subject of this sketch, a Virginian by birth, who had settled in Missouri when a very young man, was a California pioneer of 1849, and for twenty-five years was a resident of Yolo County, where he accumulated a handsome estates, and died universally respected and regretted by all classes, in November, 1879. The only son of this gentleman, Richard Henderson Beamer, is a native of "old Missouri," and was born on the 29th of July, 1849, at the time his father was delving for the precious metal in California. The elder Mr. Beamer continued at mining until 1852, and in that year, attracted by the fertility of the soil and the salubrity of the climate of Yolo, he came here and was engaged for two years in farming, having acquired the ownership of a piece of land near the ranch now under the management of R. H. Beamer. In 1854, this gentleman, having decided on making Yolo County his future home, returned to Missouri, and brought his family back with him, consisting of his wife, his son, R. H., and a daughter, now the wife of Mr. F. M. Brown, of Woodland. The journey across the plains was accomplished with the aid of the traditional team of oxen, and the little party duly arrived in Yolo County, of which R. H. Beamer has since been a continuous resident, if we except the time spent at an Eastern college in putting the finishing touches to his education. He had the advantage of the best educational facilities afforded in the locality, and being a bright, quick-witted youngster, with both the desire and ability to excel in his studies, he successfully passed through the different grades of the public schools with credit. His desire to still further continue his studies was encouraged by his father, who was himself a well-read, intelligent gentleman-one of the founders of the Hesperian College-who thoroughly appreciated the benefits of a higher education. "Dick" Beamer, as he is known to his friends and familiars, attended the Hesperian College, and subsequently, in 1868, accompanied his father to the Eastern States, visiting among other places the State of Kentucky. Mr. Beamer was then a young man of nineteen, a susceptible age, and the young gentleman was very much impressed by the scholastic opportunities afforded by the Blue Grass State, its many natural beauties, and possibly by the charms of the fair daughters of the sunny South. Infatuated by the inducements offered by the University of Kentucky, at Lexington, he entered the School of Arts therewith connected, and while worshiping at the shrine of Minerva became acquainted with Miss Mary E. Hodgen, of Lexington. Completing his collegiate studies Mr. Beamer returned to his Yolo County home, but in a few months again went East, and married the lady above named in Lexington, December 20, 1870, a few months after he had arrived at his majority. This gentleman brought his young wife to California, and has since been a resident of Woodland and vicinity, where they were afterward followed by the father, brother, and other relatives of Mrs. Beamer. R. H. Beamer is a thoroughly practical and experienced agriculturist, and has for many years been extensively engaged in that industry, having 1,500 acres of rented lands near Black's, under cultivation, and a half section under his management near the city, on which stands handsome, commodious and comfortable suburban residence. He owns, in addition to the above, 800 acres of choice lands in Shasta County. Entering the political arena at a very early age, this gentleman has filled several public positions of honor, trust and responsibility. In 1872, when in his twenty-third year, R. H. Beamer was elected Auditor of Yolo County, at which he served two years, and filled the position so creditably to himself and so satisfactorily to the citizens of Yolo that he, on the expiration of his term, was nominated and elected to the County Assessorship, which responsible office he held for four years. A short time after his retirement from the office his father deceased, and he again assumed the management of the old farm and home place, continuing thereat until 1885, when he was elected Sheriff of Yolo, and served that year and the following as such. "Dick" Beamer was also nominated by the Democracy in joint convention to represent the Senate district which embraces Yolo and Napa Counties. This nomination was made in the face of the fact that he had emphatically assured his political friends that it would be impossible for him to accept. The nomination was equivalent to election, and the compliment was a handsome one. It furnished striking evidence of the high estimation in which he was held; but business connections and other circumstances obliged him much against his will to decline the honor. Mr. Beamer has been one of the school trustees for the past nine years. He has always affiliated with the Democratic party, with broad views in politics. He is still a young man, not having yet entered upon the fifth decade of life, and belongs to the progressive element which favors advancement and development. He is opposed to the slow-going, old fogy class of men whose Silurianism has been so detrimental to the progress of Yolo, and endorses and heartily supports all movements having the welfare of this wonderful section in view. He does not favor a "boom," but believes in encouraging immigration of the desirable kind, and in the dividing of large tracts into small holdings. The magnificent property known as the Beamer Addition consists of 100 acres, which has been subdivided into lots for residence purposes, and was recently sold to a syndicate and placed upon the market by R. H. Beamer, who retains an interest therein. The land lies at a considerable elevation above the city, and admirably located as it is it will of necessity become a favorite for well-to-do Woodlanders. Mr. Beamer has had six children, two of whom have been taken away by death. The eldest living is a young lady, highly accomplished, and the youngest a bright and handsome boy just beginning to walk, and the sunshine of the household. Personally Mr. Beamer is of engaging address, quick and incisive in manner of speech, and possessed of pleasing conversational powers. In disposition he is genial and sociable, and having lived here as a boy, youth and man for thirty-five years, has had a large circle of friends and acquaintances. The following further particulars concerning the senior Mr. Beamer are taken from a history published several years ago. R. L. BEAMER, deceased, of Yolo County, was born February 29, 1816, in Carroll County, Virginia, where he lived until he attained his majority, when he removed to the State of Missouri. He was married to Miss Rebecca Anderson, April 15, 1847, in Livingston County, Missouri. They continued to live as loving husband and wife until death separated them, in 1879. The issue of the marriage was Mary E., aged thirty-one years; Tena R., aged twenty-five years, and Richard Henderson, aged thirty years, still living. Five children are deceased, viz.: Parthena, Asenath, Irene, Hope, and Charity. In 1849 Mr. Beamer, or "Uncle Dicky," as he was almost universally known among his acquaintances and friends, made the long and toilsome trip across the plains to this coast, in search of the glittering treasures that California's mountains held. Finding a healthful and salubrious climate in the great Sacramento Valley, he secured a fine farm in 1852, and in 1854 went back to his Missouri home, and the same year returned to this State by land with his family by ox teams, and settled in Yolo County, at the present family homestead. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, but, after his advent to this State, worked very little at that vocation, devoting his attention principally to agricultural pursuits. He also, for a number of years, was one of the owners of a toll-road and bridge in Placer County, which brought in a handsome monthly revenue, until the completion of the railroad superseding the teaming interests. "Uncle Dicky" was a man of great force of character, and although not possessed of a thorough education, was a man of quite extensive reading and great natural mental powers. For a number of years prior to his death, he was a warm and persistent advocate of the Bible, and was a prominent member of the Christian Church at Woodland. Peculiar as he was in many of his characteristics, yet no one ever impeached his honesty, his integrity, or his full belief in his religious professions. He was an enterprising man, and whenever the wants of the community demanded contributions of the part of the citizens thereof, "Uncle Dicky's" name was generally to be found among the list of subscribers. In church matters he was particularly liberal, giving generously to the good cause whenever called upon. In the building up and establishing of Hesperian College, he was one of the foremost men, and never flinched from the tasks imposed upon him until the institution was put upon a permanent, self-sustaining basis. As a farmer, he was not entirely so thorough as some, yet, with the help of his estimable wife, succeeded in accumulating a very handsome estate before he was called away. From the effects of a fall received about two years prior to his decease, he was never well, and November 5, 1879, was called to his final account, regretted by all classes of the community in which he had so long resided. Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California,
The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 Richard Henderson BEAMER The development of the Sacramento valley, no only from the standpoint of financial stability, but also from the side of commercial growth, has been fostered through the sagacious leadership of the First National Bank, formerly the Farmers and Merchants Bank, an institution well known in Woodland and in all of the surrounding country. As a financial concern it has achieved a wide reputation for conservative spirit, local pride, keen supervision and an important list of depositors. Its officers are without exception men of fine mental attributes and ability as financiers. Guarding the investments of their stockholders with wise caution, they yet have proved of the utmost importance to the permanent advancement of their home city through their judicious extension of credit to men hampered by want of capital, and in every instance the wisdom of their confidence has been proved by actual results. Coming into the office of president, some seven or more years after the organization of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, Mr. Beamer soon impressed upon the institution the influence of his strong, virile personality. The results of his executive management permeated the community with a distinct effect upon its permanent upbuilding. The valley has achieved a prosperity more vital and lasting than would have been possible without the presence of the bank, working through its officers for the benefit of the entire region, and its president has been particularly helpful in establishing for the concern a position as sound, reliable and conservative. At the time that he was chosen president, November 9, 1901, F. Miller was selected for the office of vice-president, M. O. Harling was re-elected cashier, and J. M. Day was made the accountant. At the report of September 1903, the capital stock was shown to be $200,000, the assets were large and the surplus increasing. Since then the capital has been equally divided, and it is now the First National Bank and Home Savings Bank of Woodland, with equal proportions of the capital stock and surplus. On January 20, 1910, Mr. Beamer resigned as president of the bank to take the position of state bank examiner, which he filled during the administration of Superintendent of Banks Alden Anderson. The Farmers and Merchants Bank of Woodland was established September 26, 1892, with the following directorate: David N. Hershey, C. G. Day, Col. D. M. Burns, W. G. Hunt, M. Diggs, Thomas Ross, Richard H. Beamer, L. B. Adams, George H. Jackson and D. R. Clanton. The concern was incorporated through the work of a special committee comprising Messrs. Adams, Day, Diggs, Ross, Beamer and Burns. Vacant property was bought at the northwest corner of Main and First streets in 1893. September 26 of that year the work of building was begun with J. J. Hall as architect and D. McPhee as contractor. The building, which is three stories in height and built of Arizona red sandstone, cost $31,205, exclusive of interior fittings and furnishings. The first floor is occupied by the bank and the other suites are utilized for office purposes. The building is heated by steam and lighted by gas and electricity, while a fireproof room enables customers to deposit valuable papers in a vault constructed by the Diebold Safe and Lock Company. Modern conveniences enable the occupants of the building to transact business with dispatch in the midst of comfortable surroundings. Born in Missouri, July 29, 1849, Richard Henderson Beamer is a son of Richard L. Beamer, a native of Virginia. Primarily educated in local schools, he later was sent to the Hesperian College and then attended the University of Kentucky at Lexington. December 20, 1870, he married Miss Mary E. Hodgen, a native of Kentucky. The young couple enjoyed a wedding tour that brought them to the west and they settled in Yolo county, where for years Mr. Beamer engaged in ranching. He platted Beamer's addition to Woodland, comprising eighty acres. He built his comfortable home on North Third street, where he resided with his family. His wife died at the age of forty-nine years, and two of their children died when young. The other members of the family are Dr. Richard F. Beamer, a dentist in San Francisco; Daisy Irene, wife of C. B. Hobson of Berkeley; Blanche H. of Woodland, and Joseph, assistant collection teller of the First National Bank of San Francisco. Staunchly devoted to the Democratic party, Mr. Beamer has been prominent in the local councils of the party. From 1872 to 1874 he served as county auditor, after which he held office as assessor four years. During 1885 he was chosen sheriff, and that office he filled with courage and energy. His party nominated him to represent Yolo and Napa counties in the state senate, but he declined the honor, although the nomination was equivalent to an election. For a long period he rendered efficient service as a member of the state board of equalization and for one term he held office as mayor of Woodland, in which position he promoted the progress of the city by his intelligent sympathy with all movements for the general welfare. Since he retired from the state bank examiner's office he has devoted his attention to his varied interest and is serving as the representative appointed by the supervisors of Yolo county to secure the state highway for the west side of the Sacramento river. Fraternally Mr. Beamer is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. He is one of Woodland's most dependable citizens and is always giving of his time and means to promote the commercial importance of his community and county. Transcribed by Bea Barton Richard L. BEAMER From the time of his arrival in the west during the eventful year of
1849, until his death thirty years afterward, the honored pioneer, Richard
L. Beamer, was identified with the material development of California,
and during the greater portion of the long period he engaged in ranching
in Yolo county. Nature qualified him admirably for the difficult task
of the frontiersman. A robust constitution and sturdy physique enabled
him to endure hardships without detriment to his health. Toil made little
impress upon his trained muscles. Work, that open sesame to success,
was the lodestar that guided him to an ultimate prosperity neither insignificant
nor unworthy of a man of ability. Religion had assisted in the formation
of his character and he gave of his best to promote churches and also
to advance educational interests. All in all, he was a man of well-rounded
character and attractive personality. William E. M. BEARDSLEE One of the most interesting as well as one of the most important phases
of the development of our western country relates to the reclamation
of the arid lands and the saving of other lands subject to overflow.
Few are more closely associated with the progress of this important
work in California than is Mr. Beardslee, trustee of the Yolo basin
drainage district, which was organized by state enactment to investigate
the practicability of reclaiming the lands lying in the Yolo, Solano
and Colusa basins on the Sacramento river. Aaron BECK A native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born in 1847, Mr. Beck received a
thorough education in the public schools of that section. Later he learned
the shoemaker's trade, in which, upon his immigration to America in
1866, he engaged in Newark, N. J., serving in a shoe factory ten years.
He then came to Capay, Yolo county, Cal., where he remained a similar
period. In 1866 he located in Woodland, where he worked at his trade
until the purchase of his present twenty-acre ranch in Willow Oak Park,
in 1890. F. M. BEE F. M. BEE, a farmer of Yolo County, is the son of Frederick and Katherine (Mawell) Bee, natives of the State of New York. The mother died at the home where her only son, the subject of this sketch, resided, August 18, 1889; and the father is now at San Francisco, acting as Chinese Consul. The farm, belonging to both father and son, is now managed by the latter. Born in New York State, he was brought to California when an infant by his parents, who came by way of the Isthmus. On arrival in this State, the family was first located in Hangtown, where the elder Mr. Bee engaged in mining and in the management of a provision store, employing a large number of men in the former industry. Arriving at the age of sixteen years, Mr. F. M. Bee attended a boarding-school at Oakland and quit at the age of eighteen, intending to follow bookkeeping; but his health failed and he began work upon his father's ranch in Sonoma County, near Petaluma. Two years afterward, November 1, 1888, he came to his present ranch, intending to remain faithful in the service and care of his father, as he had already done for his mother up to the time of her death. She was fifty-eight years old when she died. Mr. Bee is yet unmarried, and is the only child. Upon the Range of 140 acres of well-improved land, he is engaged principally in the raising of wine and table grapes. Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California,
Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 Dean C. BEEMAN The desire to find a location entirely satisfactory cause Mr. Beeman
to travel extensively throughout the United States. Reared in the Mississippi
valley, he had been familiar with that region from his earliest memories
and his travels therefore took him into other directions. Twice he went
to the northwest, but what he desired was not there. Then he began to
investigate California and he did not cease his journeys until he had
traversed the entire length of the Pacific coast at a point of contact
with our own country. A careful estimate of the extent of his journeyings
in search of a location gives the mileage in one year as seventeen thousand,
but he does not regret the time and money spent in these expeditions,
for they gave him a broad acquaintance with the United States and also
convinced him that Yolo county is without a superior in its possibilities
for the earning of a livelihood out of the soil. Thomas J. BELSHE A native of California, his birth having occurred in Woodland, Yolo county, February 9, 1856, Mr. Belshe is widely know as a most practical and enterprising citizen, and by his well-directed efforts has contributed largely to the development of the community. His parents, William G. and Leah (Morris) Belshe, natives of Germany and Kentucky, respectively, crossed the plains from Missouri in 1849, and in Yolo county, Cal., they took up a ranch near Woodland. After five years Mr. Belshe took his family to Geyerville, Sonoma county, where he resumed farming, actively conducting his duties until his death in 1859. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Belshe, the latter of whom now makes her home in San Diego county, six children were born, as follows: John M. and Robert F., deceased; Thomas J.; William P., who resides in Orange county, and two daughters who died young. In 1864 Mr. Belshe returned to Yolo county with his mother, who settled on a farm near Madison, where she purchased two hundred acres of land. Mr. Belshe was educated in the public schools there, after which he followed farming on his mother's place until his marriage. For some time thereafter he followed horticulture, but is now engaged in viticulture at Cottonwood. Year by year his vineyard increases in both value and production, the record for the season of 1911 one hundred tons. The ranch is counted one of the leading properties of the county, none presenting a more highly cultivated or more beautiful appearance than the Belshe vineyard. Thomas J. Belshe was united in marriage in 1876 to Miss Johanna Toelle, a native of Sacramento. The three children born to them are William A., Mary I. and Cora B. In the death of his wife in 1899 Mr. Belshe lost a devoted companion and the children a kind and affectionate mother. Politically he has always supported Democratic principles and has at all times maintained an active concern in public enterprises of merit, being especially interested in the cause of education. Transcribed by Bea Barton Mrs. Agnes BEMMERLEY proprietor of a farm in Yolo County, is the widow of John Bemmerly,
deceased, who was born in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1824, and came in
1852 to California, crossing the plains with oxen and settling in Yolo
County in 1853. He died August 8, 1872, a man well and favorably known
throughout a large community. He left to his wife and five children
6,000 acres of land. He was married in this county, October 14, 1860.
The children are Mary E., John F., Jr., Agnes H., William A. and Ernest
A., all natives of this county. Ernest BEMMERLY A worthy representative of one of the early and prominent pioneer families
of Yolo county Ernest Bemmerly is upholding the record for genuine worth
and stability borne by his predecessors, and Woodland has no more dependable
citizen than "Sam" Bemmerly, as he is known and addressed
by his most intimate friends. He was born near Blacks Station, Yolo
county, March 10, 1873, the youngest of five children born to his parents,
John and Agnes (Wimmer) Bemmerly. Both of the parents were natives of
Germany, the father born in Wurtemberg, February 24, 1824, and the mother
in Baden, February 2, 1833. From the time that he came to California
in 1852, until his death, August 8, 1872, the father was a resident
of Yolo county, and here, too, the mother has been a continuous resident
since 1859. An interesting sketch of this worthy couple may be found
elsewhere in this volume. John BEMMERLY Prominent among the pioneer ranchmen and sheep growers of Yolo county
was the late John Bemmerly, who settled on land lying three and a half
miles of Yolo more than half a century ago, on the homestead now owned
and occupied by the widow. Squatting on Knight's grant, he helped his
neighbors to fight the claims of the Knight heirs and gain the victory
over them which perfected the titles to their own homes. A man of great
determination and perseverance, he was at the same time progressive,
patient and tactful, a farmer who in other environments would have developed
into a splendid business man. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, February
24, 1824, and was reared and educated in his native city. In 1847 he
came to the United States and worked in New York as a farm hand until
1852, when he came to California. For several months he mined, but with
no marked success, and so he squatted on land in Yolo county that he
had recently bought from the United States government. Industrious and
far-seeing, he labored courageously and became in the course of time
an extensive land owner and a citizen of influence. He raised excellent
crops and as fast as he made money he invested it in contiguous land
until he had a home ranch of eight hundred acres, as well as a sheep
ranch near Dunnigan comprising thirty-six hundred acres. He divided
his attention between farming and sheep raising, and at the time of
his death had one of the largest flocks of the county. His passing,
which took place August 8, 1872, was regarded as a sad loss to the community
and an irreparable one to his family. He had been reared in the Lutheran
faith and in his political affiliations was a stanch Republican. Harvey E. BENDER Harvey E. Bender, an alert business man who is proprietor of the Woodland Steam Laundry, was born in Longford, Clay county, Kansas, December 23, 1891, and was a lad of nine years when his parents removed with their family to Oklahoma, where he spent his time upon the home ranch to the age of sixteen. He then journeyed to the northwest, with the Willamette valley of Oregon as his destination, and settled near Salem. He attended the district school at Silverton and afterward again went to Oklahoma, becoming a student in the high school at Stillwater. For a time he worked as a delivery boy and later turned his attention to the laundry business, which he followed in Boise, Idaho, in Idaho Falls, Pocatello and other cities of that state at different periods. He thus gained an intimate and accurate working knowledge of the business in all of its phases. In the fall of 1918 he went to Pendleton, Oregon, where he conducted a laundry, and in 1923 he arrived in Woodland, purchasing the Woodland Steam Laundry, then in a run-down condition. He at once began the task of building it up, installed new machinery throughout the plant, and today has one of the best equipped and most modern laundries in the valley. The plant is supplied with all modern appliances necessary for turning out excellent work, and something of the increase in the business is indicated in the fact that when Mr. Bender took charge there were only nine employes, while today there are forty-five, and he utilizes six delivery trucks. His trade extends throughout Yolo county and he also has many customers in Solano, Colusa and Glenn counties. Mr. Bender was married to Miss Grace Waggoner, a native of Oklahoma, and they now have two children, Stanley and Beverly Jean, both born in Woodland. Mr. Bender finds recreation in the game of golf and he belongs to the Yolo Fliers Club, the Lions Club, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a progressive citizen, supporting all movements that tend to advance the welfare of community and commonwealth, while as a business man he has ever been dependable and reliable, thus gaining the trust and confidence of those with whom he has had dealings. He belongs to the California State and National Laundrymen's Associations and he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished and for the success which he has attained. Source: History of the Sacramento Valley, California, By Mj. Jesse
Walton Wooldridge Page 45-46, The Pioneer Historical Publishing Co.,
Chicago (1931) M. S. BENTZ The business interests and commercial progress of Woodland receive
the constant co-operation of Mr. Bentz, who since coming to this city
during 1906 has identified himself with movements for the local upbuilding
and has proved the high value of his capable citizenship. Such success
as he has achieved and it is by no means insignificant results from
his own determination and unaided efforts. As a boy he had little opportunity
to advance in the world, but, sturdily resolved to secure an education,
he paid his own expenses as he was attending various institutions in
the east. The result was that he acquired a varied knowledge and also
gained what is even more to be desired, viz.: an abundance of self-reliance
and independence. A member of an old Pennsylvania family, he was born
in York county, that state, April 11, 1851, and was next to the youngest
in a family of ten children, five of whom are still living. The parents,
George and Nancy (Grove) Bentz, were born in York county, lived upon
farming land there and remained in the same locality until death. Charles T. BIDWELL The enterprising spirit that led Mr. Bidwell to seek a location in
the newer regions of the undeveloped west formed the nucleus of his
subsequent success, whereby, through an intimate identification with
varied lines of commercial activity, he had become one of the influential
citizens of Woodland, contributing personally to the permanent prosperity
of the place and occupying an honorable position in the annals of the
local history. For years he was one of the leading grain-buyers in Yolo
county, but later he abandoned that field of commercial activity and
entered the real-estate arena, in which through his thorough knowledge
of land values he has risen to prominence. Besides the close attention
to all business details, he has found leisure for the management of
a large vineyard and has studied grape culture exhaustively, so that
he is considered an authority on the subject. Added to other duties
he now fills the office of city trustee, to which he was elected in
April of 1911 for a term of four years. That office he regards as a
trust from the people and it is his endeavor so to discharge its duties
as to secure for the citizens needed benefits, substantial reforms and
practical improvements. Urias BITZER Urias Bitzer, farmer at Woodland, was born March 11, 1826, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a son of John and Elizabeth (Royer) Bitzer, natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a farmer all his life, and died in the same house where he was born, in 1877, at the age of eighty-one years. The subject of this sketch remained at his parental home until he was twenty-six years of age. He then followed farming four years in St. Clair County, Illinois, and then, in 1856, came on to the Pacific coast by the Nicaragua route, sailing from New York April 8, on the steamer Orizaba, and on the Pacific side on the Sierra Nevada. They lay four weeks at Granada, then General Walker's headquarters. Out of 558 passengers on board, 138 died. Mr. Bitzer landed at San Francisco June 6 and proceeded immediately to the mines at Iowa Hill, but in a few days went on to Grass Valley, and a few days after that to Marysville, near which place he engaged in a harvest field; next he spent a month in Plumas County, then a few days in Nevada City, and then worked during the month of August in a harvest field in Napa County; next chopped wood three months on the Norris grant, near Sacramento; January 27, 1857, he went to Shingle Springs, El Dorado County, where he remained until 1877 engaged in mining and in a vineyard. In mining he was reasonably successful. Then he went to the Black Hills, but in three days started back to Sacramento; and then he set out to find a location and after traveling around a good deal, he settled in July, 1877, in Woodland, near which point he purchased five acres of land, and he is now making that place his home. At present he has twenty acres, just outside the western limits of town, and he has 200 acres of farm land five miles west of Black's Station. On his ranch he raises principally grain and hay. Twenty acres of the home place is in grapes and clover; seven acres of this vineyard are in Flaming Tokays, nine acres in Zinfandels and one in raisin Muscats. He is a characteristic old-timer who is always found busy, as the character of the improvements upon his premises demonstrate. In 1871 he visited the East, after an absence of about twenty years, and he returned to his California home more contented than ever. He is a member of the O.C.F. July 31, 1877, he was married to Fianna Palmer, a native of Ohio, and they have one daughter, named Mary. Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California,
The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 James J. BLACK JAMES J. BLACK, a farmer at the town of Black's, Yolo County, is a son of Thomas G. and Margaret (Morrison) Black, the father a native of Georgia, and the mother of Illinois. His father, born in 1809, became one of the early gold hunters of California in 1849, returned East in 1851 and came to the Golden State in 1852, bringing with him his family and locating in Sacramento County, where he lived until 1856; he then came to Yolo County and settled where the town of Black is now situated. In 1866 he moved to Colusa County, and died there August 1, 1868. Mr. James J. Black was born December 22, 1857, in Scott County, Illinois,
and was with his parents until they settled in the place where Black's
now stands. Then, May 1, 1869, he married Miss Margaret Tennis, a native
of Illinois, and shortly afterward purchased 160 acres of land, in the
center of which Black's is now located; from him the town is named.
He was engaged in mercantile business from 1885 to 1887, when he sold
out. He is now keeping a warehouse. He has been a dealer in grain ever
since the town was started in 1875. He is a member of the orders of
Chosen Friends and Odd Fellows at Galesburg, Illinois. His children
are: William B., born September 21, 1865; Clarence O., October 17, 1870;
James L., November 13, 1885; and Ida J., February 3, 1887. Frank Williams BLANCHARD In a region remote from his native commonwealth and interested in affairs
radically different from the seafaring exploits of his boyhood days,
Frank W. Blanchard is passing the maturity of his resolute, purposeful
existence and is enjoying the rewards of commercial and social prominence
tendered to those who surmount life's hardships with undaunted perseverance.
Chance brought him to the shores of California and at once he was so
pleased with the country and the climate that he resolved to remain,
severing the ties that bound him to the home of his childhood and to
the occupation of his youth. Nor has he had reason to regret the decision
that bound him to the west as a permanent citizen, for the passing of
the years has but deepened his devotion to the land of the setting sun. Melvin White BLANCHARD Backed by a life experience of more than usual interest, Mr. Blanchard
enjoys in his closing years not only precious memories which serve to
fill many a quiet hour, but also the contemplation of many important
changes which have taken place recently and which point to a wonderful
future for the west. For the past fifty-two years he has lived and labored
with other pioneers of the Woodland section, and it is a source of the
utmost joy to him to be able to realize many of the hopes which he has
cherished so long. |