Placer County, California

 Biography Project

This Site is part of

The California Biography Project

and

The U S Biography Project

History of Placer County, California

With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches

Of it's Prominent Men and Pioneers

Oakland, Cal ~ Thompson and West

1882

The pages from the above book are all available as pdf files. They can be found here:

Check the Index below for names of interest ~ The Obituaries from the book are also indexed.

Miscellaneous Placer County Biographies

Atkinson, James W

...was born in Auburn, Placer County, California, September 18, 1838, and came to Waterford with his parents in 1864.  He was educated in the public schools, Eastman’s Business College of Poughkeepsie, and was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1888.  He was admitted to the bar in 1889 and has practiced since then with success.  In 1886 he was elected excise commissioner, serving three years; in 1888 he was elected justice of the peace and has served continuously since January 1, 1889; he was also elected school trustee in 1889 and is still serving in that capacity; also clerk of the board of education.  He was elected justice of sessions in 1890, serving one year.  In April, 1897, Mr. Atkinson married Bessie N. McDonald.  In his political choice he is a Republican.  Mr. Atkinson’s father, John Atkinson, was born in the north of Ireland in 1804, and came to the United States in 1840, locating in Waterford, N.Y.  He married twice, first, to Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dekar, widow of Richard Van Dekar, and they had three daughters:  Elizabeth, Charlotte and Matilda; his second wife was Mary McAran, and they had five children:  John H., James W., Thomas P., Mary M. and Sarah J.  John H. was a noted attorney-at-law here and in New York City and died March 26, 1890.  Thomas P. died in 1883 and Mr. Atkinson died February 16, 1876, his widow July 26, 1898.

Our county and its people: a descriptive and biographical record of Saratoga County, New York ~ Anderson, George Baker

Boston:  The Boston History Co.,  1899,  Pages 140-141

Edwin Merrithew, M.D.,

...has been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine at Martinez for the past eight years, and is widely recognized as one of the able and representative members of the profession.  He was born at Gold Run, Placer County, California, November 23, 1880, son of Moses W., born July 4, 1837, and Annie Elizabeth Merrithew, born in 1854.  His father is a native of Maine, and his mother was born in San Francisco.  The parents still reside in Placer County.  The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Placer County.  He also attended the Stockton Normal School.  He then entered the Cooper Medical College and graduated in 1905, becoming intern at the Lane Hospital in San Francisco.  He practiced his profession in Sonoma County, and in June, 1907, he removed to Martinez, where he enjoys the full confidence of the people of his locality.  In March, 1911, Doctor Merrithew was appointed County physician, which office he has since held.  He has served as health officer of the city of Martinez since January 1, 1914.  He is local surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad.  Fraternally, Doctor Merrithew holds membership in the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias, and now serves as camp physician of the Woodmen of the World.  He is especially interested in and a member of the Native Sons.  He is a member of the Contra Costa Medical Society, the California State Medical Association, and the American Medical Association.  He has served as vice-president of the County Medical Society.  In politics the Doctor is a Republican.  He was married to Miss Emma Kriner, of California, October 29, 1910.  To this union one son, Wallace Kriner, was born on July 29, 1913.  Mrs. Merrithew is a member of the Women of Woodcraft, and is active in all matters pertaining to promote the general welfare and growth and expansion of the community.

The History of Contra Costa County, California : Wm L Todd; Jos W Revere; William B Ide; Jose Castro; et al,

Berkeley, Calif.:  Elms Pub. Co.,  1917, Page 490

Samuel L. Woodward

...received his educational training in the public schools of Iowa, and in 1877 went to California.  In September of the following year he came to Portland, in which city lived an uncle, Tyler Woodward, who had come here in 1870, after spending five years in Montana.  He was at the head of the Portland street railway system and Samuel L. Woodward entered his employ on that line.  In 1883 he became superintendant of the street railway, filling that position until 1891, when he turned his attention to the ice manufacturing business, which he followed for several years.  He served two years, 1896-97, as a member of the city council, and then made large investments at Kenton, which community he helped to develop, taking a special interest in the establishment of the schools.  He has also been actively interested in North Portland enterprises, in all of which he has been enabled to realize a fair degree of success.  Mr. Woodward’s outstanding achievement, however, as relating to the public welfare, was in securing the construction of the Columbia River Bridge.  He was president of the North Portland Commercial Club at the time and devoted himself tirelessly to promoting the proposition, which required much hard and continuous work to put through.  He has been highly commended for his successful efforts in securing what has proven a distinctive benefit to the public.  The Columbia River bridge, which has heretofore been operated as a toll bridge with substantial profits, was opened in 1915 and the income derived therefrom has paid off all bonds and interest and all operating expenses and moreover, Multnomah County will profit to the extent of four hundred thousand dollars as its proportionate share of the net surplus, this being a three-fifths share, while Clark County, Washington, will receive its two-fifths of the surplus.  Mr. Woodward and J.H. Nolta were the prime movers in promoting the building of the bridge.  There were many difficulties to meet and much opposition to overcome.  They began agitating the project in 1909 and worked through several legislative sessions in Oregon and congressional sessions in Washington to secure the necessary legislative enactment.  Finally success crowned their effort and the bridge has proven to be the greatest boon to interstate traffic.  In January, 1929, it will cease to be a toll bridge.

In 1891 Mr. Woodward was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Helfst, who was born at Dutch Flat, Placer County, California, and whose father, Ferdinand Helfst, was a pioneer miner of that state.  Mr. and Mrs. Woodward have a daughter, Constance, who is the wife of A.R. Bohoskey, represented elsewhere in this work.  Mr. Woodward is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 46, A.F. & A.M.; Washington Chapter, No. 18, R.A.M.; Washington Commandery, No. 15, K.T.; Al Kader Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S.; Portland Camp, No. 77, W.O.W.; and the Kenton Business Men’s Club.  He is also a member of Lang Syne Club of Portland, Oregon, whose requirements are that members must have been in some business prior to 1891, or held some important position.  Politically he is a staunch republican and has taken an active interest in public affairs, particularly such as concern the prosperity and welfare of his community.  Strong mental endowment, invincible courage and a determined will, coupled with honesty of purpose and high ideals, have so entered into his composition as to render him a dominant factor in the business world and a leader in important enterprises, and he commands the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellowmen.

Lockley, Fred: History of the Columbia River Valley  ~ Chicago:  S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.,,  1928, Page 475

James M. Burke,

...one of the well known attorneys of Visalia and Tulare County, is a native of California, born in Damascus, Placer County, February 7, 1879.  His father, Thomas Burke, came from Ireland alone at the age of seventeen years, and for the greater part of his life was engaged in gold mining.  He is still remembered by old residents of Placer and Sonoma counties as one of the pioneer mining men of the state.

In his boyhood James M. Burke attended the schools of Healdsburg, Sonoma County, after which he entered the University of California, where he was a member of the graduating class of 1908.  He then took the law course in the same institution, completing it in 1910.  The following February he came to Visalia, where he accepted a position as deputy district attorney under Frank Lamberson, then district attorney.  Here he remained for eight years, except for a short time in 1916, when he served as a private in the California National Guard on the Mexican border during the Villa trouble.

On January 1, 1919, Mr. Burke joined the law firm of Farnsworth & McClure, which then became Farnsworth, McClure & Burke, with offices in the Bank of Italy building, now generally recognized as one of the leading legal firms of Tulare County.  Some time prior to his entrance into this firm he became interested in fruit culture and in connection with Mr. Booth, of Los Angeles, planted a vineyard and orchard ranch of fifty acres, which they have developed to a high state of cultivation, and in which he still holds his interest.

Politically Mr. Burke is a republican and as such takes a lively interest in public affairs.  He is now (1924) serving his second term as a member of the Visalia city council.  Fraternally he belongs to Visalia Lodge No. 1298, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Mr. Burke was united in marriage to Miss Lillian M. Farnsworth, who was born in Amador County, California, and they have one daughter, Anne McLaine Burke.

Small, Kathleen Edwards., History of Tulare County, California: Chicago:  S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.,  1926, Pages 197-198

Lena Geraldson Miller

Among the physicians on the medical staff of the State Hospital at Napa, Dr. Lena Geraldson Miller has for a number of years been recognized as one of the most efficient and capable, her record having gained for her general confidence and esteem, as well as the sincere respect of her professional colleagues.  Dr. Miller is a native of Placer County, California, and is a daughter of Hans and Mary Greer (Sloan) Geraldson.  Her father came to the United States from Australia, and her mother was a native of Pennsylvania, whence she came to California many years ago, their marriage occurring in Placer County.

Dr. Miller received her elementary education in the public and high schools of Placer County and then attended the Teachers State Normal College, at San Jose.  During the two following terms she taught school and then matriculated in the Cooper Medical College, in San Francisco, after which she returned to Placer County and engaged in the practice of her profession.  Soon afterward she was appointed assistant resident physician in the Fabiola Hospital in Oakland, where her record was so outstanding that she was secured for her present position as assistant physician in the State Hospital at Napa, where she is still serving, with marked success.

The Doctor became the wife of F.H. Miller, who is now a successful rancher and a highly respected citizen of Napa County.  Dr. Miller is a member of the Napa County Medical Society and the California State Medical Society, and she is eligible for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution.  She enjoys a wide acquaintance and is well liked by all who have come in contact with her, for added to her professional ability she possesses charming graces of character which have commended her to the good favor of all whom she has been associated, either professionally or socially.

What the modern methods of undertaking have come to mean to society, desirous as men and women always are for the best that can be obtained, and anxious as people of sentiment ever will be for the most consoling and appropriate provision for the last rites of respect to the dead, may be seen from the operations, in accordance with scientific precepts and the most approved taste, of James E. Freeman, the well known undertaker of Monterey.  He was born September 16, 1872, in Placer County, California, on a ranch where his parents, John C. and Catherine (Croke) Freeman then lived.  His father was a master machinist, long in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, having charge of certain responsible departments in the shops.  He also had a ranch of several hundred acres near Rocklin, Placer County, and there made his home and reared his family.  Hence the children attended the grammar schools of Rocklin; and when the family moved to Berkeley, they availed themselves of the advantages of the higher schools.  A brother opened and conducted a large furniture and undertaking place at Rocklin, but the removal of the railroad shops, and with them so many people, made it necessary for him to seek a new location.

Hunt, Marguerite., History of Solano County, California :Chicago:  S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.,  1926, Pages 441-442

Esther M Fletcher & James Freeman

It happened – very fortunately, in this case – that James Freeman was prominently active in the Native Sons of the Golden West, and that in time he became a delegate to several state conventions, one of which was held in Monterey.  Having seen the historic old town, he determined, if possible, to make his home here.  In 1908 therefore he returned and purchased Mr. Oliver’s undertaking business and ever since he has regularly added to its equipment, and increased his stock of all that is necessary, as he is far away from the usual source of supplies.  He has a dignified chapel in which funeral services may be held and he owns two motor-hearses.  With his careful personal attention to the desires of each and every patron, he finds it relatively easy to give satisfaction of the kind that evokes grateful appreciation.  In his difficult, delicate and decidedly responsible work, Mr. Freeman is ably assisted by his wife, who is also a licensed undertaker.

Mrs. Freeman was Miss Esther M. Fletcher before her marriage, and she is a daughter of the pioneer, Levi Fletcher, who first settled in California in 1857.  Seven years later he returned east, where he remained until 1888, but the irresistible lure of California drew him back here, in 1888, about the time of the great “boom” in southern California, and he became interested in development of the granite quarries near Rocklin.  Mrs. Freeman belongs to the Eastern Star, and she is a past matron and charter member of the Hebe Roseville chapter.  She also belongs to the Cypress Lodge of the Rebekahs, the ladies auxiliary of the I.O.O.F., of Pacific Grove, and she is an ex-president of the Monterey Civic Club, and also of the ladies of the Sherman Circle, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Robert Wainwright Auxiliary of the Veterans of the Spanish-American War of Monterey.  Mr. Freeman is a charter member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, having first belonged to Rocklin Parlor, from which he was transferred to the Parlor at Monterey, and he is a Knight of Columbus, a Forester, a Moose and an Eagle.  He belongs to various patriotic bodies and is second to none in participating in any good work for the general uplift of the community and for the advancement of the best interests of all Monterey County.

Small, Kathleen Edwards., History of Tulare County, California Chicago:  S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.,  1926, Pages 205-206

George S Nixon

United States Senator Geo. S. Nixon is pre-eminently a self-made man.  The record of his experience indicates how industry applied to Western opportunities enables one to be decidedly successful notwithstanding the manifold obstacles one must overcome.  He was born in Placer County, California, April 2, 1860, and worked on his father’s farm until 19 years of age.  He secured a very fair education in the schools of his native State and in 1878 he became an employee of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at New Castle, California.  After acquiring a knowledge of telegraphy in a railway station office, he was transferred in 1881 to Nevada points, serving as an operator on the Central Pacific Railroad and the Carson & Colorado Railroad.  After three years of this service he was offered and accepted a clerical situation with the First National Bank of Reno, an institution that afterwards became the Washoe County Bank.  Doubtless this new vocation was Mr. Nixon’s proper sphere, as he rapidly grew into prominence and public confidence and is now representing Nevada in the United States Senate.

Mr. Nixon succeeded the late Senator William M. Stewart, having been elected on January 25, 1905, for the term beginning March 4, 1905.  Prior to his election to the United States Senate Senator Nixon was a member of the legislature of Nevada during the session of 1891.

Senator Nixon is one of the most prosperous business men of Nevada.  For years he was the most active mine operator and is now largely interested in banking, stockraising and farming.  He is the president of the Nixon National Bank of Reno, the First National Bank of Winnemucca and the Tonopah Banking Corporation of Tonopah.

C C Goodwin; Horace Dunbar: Sketches of the Inter-mountain States : together with biographies of many prominent and progressive citizens who have helped in the development and history-making of this marvelous region : 1847-1909, Utah, Idaho, Nevada. Salt Lake City, Utah:  Salt Lake Tribune,  1909, Page 327

Mark A. Pixley,

...of Monterey, an expert painting contractor, familiar with and proficient in executing all the demands for twentieth century decorating, is a native of Placer County, California, born at the mining camp of Bath, May 11, 1872, the son of Marshall and Ellen (Moss) Pixley.  He has always been proud of the fact that his father crossed the great plains in the winter of ’49, with a team of oxen, and thus, after untold hardships, reached the mines of Placer County, California where he remained for two years.  He then removed to the town of Pixley, so named in honor of his father, Mark A. Pixley.  In 1874 Marshall Pixley removed to Milpitas, and from that year until 1891 conducted the Milpitas Hotel.  From 1891 until 1910 he was in San Jose and served as deputy sheriff.  Then he returned to San Francisco, to live with his daughter, his wife having passed away.

Mark A. Pixley attended the public schools of Milpitas and San Jose, and afterward worked for J. Lasky in San Jose until 1898 when he went to Nevada, to join the Nevada Rough Riders and participated in the Spanish-American war.  After being discharged he went to Elko in 1902 and engaged in painting, in which he had previously had some experience.  He remained there until 1907, when he returned to San Jose, and on the 27th of May he came to Monterey, where he is now conducting a successful and growing business as a painter, his patronage having assumed substantial proportions.  His building, the Pixley Block, stands at the corner of Lighthouse and Prescott streets, and Pixley Hall, a room on the second floor, sixty by seventy feet, is the finest hall on the peninsula.

Mr. Pixley was married to Mrs. Alice Kelling, proprietor of the Pacific Ocean House, a comfortable and popular inn which he assisted his wife in managing until December, 1919, dividing his time with his painting.  Four children have blessed this union:  Raymond W., Edwin W., Alice M., and Margie A. Pixley.  The family attends the Christian Science church.  Mr. Pixley is a Knight of Pythias, and he finds his recreation in hunting and fishing, at which he is an adept.

Rolin G Watkins, History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California : cradle of California's history and romance : dating from the planting of the cross of Christendom upon the shores of Monterey Bay by Fr. Junipero Serra, and those intrepid adventurers who accompanied him, down to the present day  - Chicago:  S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.,  1925, Pages 162-163

D. F. Ragan, M D  

...whose office is at No. 8 Sixth street, San Francisco, has been engaged in the practice of medicine in this city since 1886. He was born at Iowa Hill, Placer county, California, in 1861, the son of Denis Ragan, who was one of the pioneer settlers of California, and who was early interested in placer and quartz mining in Placer and Nevada counties. Our subject received his early education in the public schools of Grass Valley, Nevada county, California, graduating at the high school of that city in 1878. He then took a pre­paratory course for admission to the State University, and soon after engaged in teach­ing in Nevada county, reaching finally the grade of teacher of the junior class in the Grass Valley .high school. This position he resigned to accept the principalship of the commercial department of the Lincoln evening school in San Francisco. While engaged in in this position Mr. Ragan commenced the study of medicine, entering the Cooper Medical College in 1883, at which institution he graduated in 1886, after a full three-years course. The position of house surgeon of the City and County Hospital was open to the three students standing highest in their classes, one of whom was Dr. Ragan, and he still retained the position of principal of the Lincoln evening school, but which he resigned in 1889, after having taught ten years, and after having received a life diploma from the State of California. Meanwhile he had resigned his place in the hospital in 1888, and engaged in private practice in his present location. Dr. Ragan is now assistant to the Chair of Nervous Diseases at the Cooper Medical College, and is also Secretary of the Alumni Association of that college. He is the first Grand Medical Examiner elected by the Young Men's Institute, which office he still holds.

The Bay of San Francisco : the metropolis of the Pacific Coast and its suburban cities : a history. Daniel Webster: Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1892, Page 582 Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham  

William Graham Hawkett

...deputy Assessor of Alameda County, was born in Todd's Valley, Placer County, California, March 23, 1856, a son of Arthur Wellington and Margaret B. (Towner) Hawkett. His father, who was born in Essex County, New York, December 17, 1826, first learned the trade of nailmaker in his father's factory at Altoona, Pennsylvania, whither the family had meanwhile moved from New York. He afterward learned the trade of mason and brick-layer, and in 1852 came to California, locating in Placer County as a miner. Mrs. Hawkett, who was born in Canada, January 2, 1830, of American par­ents, rejoined him in Placer County in 1853. He continued so engaged for several years, and is interested in mines and mining prop­erty to the present time, in this State and in Oregon. He came to this State early in the '60s and embarked in the business of con­tractor and builder. He constructed the first macadamized street in Oakland and built the Wilcox block, the first three---story building erected here. He afterward built the Benitz block and the Broadway block. He was a half owner of the Altoona cinnabar mines, thought to be the richest quicksilver mines in California, which he sold in 1875. He is still interested in mining in Oregon.   W. G. Hawkett, the only living child of his parents, came to Oakland in August, 1865, attended Brayton College, and at the age of fourteen took a situation as messenger in the State Assembly in Sacramento, which he held for two sessions. He then went to Gold Hill, Nevada, and for a year was clerk in a quartzmill. In 1874 he returned to Oakland and resumed his educational course for a season. In his twentieth year he went into the grocery business on his own account in West Oakland, under the style of W. G. Hawkett & Co., continuing eight months, when he sold out to H. M. Collins. In 1878 he was appointed deputy County Recorder under P. R. Borein, serving five years and ten months, and then tinder his successor one year. Resigning that position, he was appointed deputy City Assessor by J. M.Dillon, and remained with him until the close of his long term of twenty seven years in April, 1889. Mr. Hawkett then joined Mr. R. S. Leckie, under the style of Leckie & Hawkett, searchers of records. They built up a good business in their line, employing nine clerks, and their professional work was so carefully done that it is accepted as standard by the banks, insurance companies and attorneys in Oakland. In 1890 Mr. Leckie was elected Assessor of Alameda County, and he at once appointed Mr. Hawkett as his chief deputy. They then sold their business as searchers of records and now give all their attention to official business. Mr. Hawkett was a member of the old Oakland Parlor, No. 2, N. S. G. W., and at the organization of the Grand Parlor of the State was chosen its first president; he is now a member of Piedmont Parlor, No. 120, and also of Occidental Lodge, No. 6, A. 0. U. W., in which he served as recorder twelve years and passed through all its offices; also of Upchurch Legion, No. 9, S. K., and of Ivanhoe Lodge, No. 1889, Knights of Honor, and of Harbor Lodge, No. 256, I. 0. 0. F. Mr. Hawkett was married in this city, Oak­land, October 8, 1879, to Miss Emma F. Webb, a native of Lancha Plana, Amador County, California, and they have three daughters, viz.: May Isabelle, born August 8, 1880; Frank Ethelyn, September 4, 1885; Marguerite Helen, February 23, 1889.  

The Bay of San Francisco : the metropolis of the Pacific Coast and its suburban cities : a history. Daniel Webster: Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1892, Pages 203-204

Transcriptions by Dana Smith & Martha A Crosley Graham

Site Updated: 7 March 2010

Martha A Crosley Graham